On August 5, 2024, a federal judge ruled that Google violated U.S. antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly in the search and advertising markets in a case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The landmark antitrust lawsuit was filed in October 2020, with the DOJ accusing the tech giant of illegally maintaining its monopoly in the search engine market.
The DOJ’s complaint alleges that Google has engaged in anticompetitive practices to defend its dominance in search and search advertising. Google has denied the claims brought against the company, stating “several ad companies compete in the space, a mixture of tools are used so they don’t get the full fees, their fees are lower than industry average and small businesses will suffer the most if they lose this case.”
How did we get here?
The decision follows a 10-week trial that began on September 12, 2023 and has featured high profile testimonies from several executives and industry experts, including Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, Apple executive Eddy Cue and other representatives from Microsoft, Mozilla and other high powered tech companies.
One key development revealed during the trial was Google entered multibillion dollar deals to be the default search engine for device manufacturers. One of these platforms includes Apple, in which Google reportedly made $18-$20 billion payments annually, recognizing search revenue would be drastically impacted if Apple were to develop its own search engine as the default in Safari.
The DOJ has also used internal Google documents that highlight Google’s efforts to combat the use of “header bidding,” which is a technology that allows website owners to receive bids from advertisers without the use of Google’s ad technology.
The bottom line
In the ruling filed in August 2024, federal Judge Amit Mehta stated, “After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly. It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”
In a filing on October 8, 2024, the DOJ made its first recommendations to, “prevent and restrain recurrence of the same offense of illegal monopoly maintenance going forward.”
The filed framework includes proposed remedies that would address four separate categories related to Google’s antitrust violations: Search distribution and revenue sharing, generation and display of search results, advertising scale and monetization and accumulation and use of data.
Including structural break ups that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome and Play to benefit Google Search and Google Search related products, these remedies could influence several areas that impact digital marketing like the other search engines absorbing Googles search market share, organic search and digital advertising.
This initial framework represents the first step in what will be a months-long process to finalize the remedies that will be imposed on Google following the court’s liability finding. However, the DOJ is careful to emphasize that unwinding Google’s decade-long anticompetitive behavior requires careful consideration and time to implement effective remedies.
As the DOJ works to finalize its framework to restore competition and prevent future monopolization, the trial underscores the broader challenges of regulating a fast-evolving digital market…especially as Google’s legal battles are far from over. Another antitrust case was filed on September 9, 2024, accusing the company of using its ad tools to create a monopoly that has driven up advertising costs for customers.
As a digital marketer, this year has already brought about thousands of updates and changes to the Google Search and Ads platforms. Now that the DOJ will be issuing remedies, further changes are inevitable. The uncertainty of these changes makes it increasingly difficult to keep up to date on best practices. The best solution for marketers is to keep their ears on the ground and stay as up to date as possible. It could also be a good time to explore other platform alternatives while Google goes through this process. It’s imperative to continue researching and staying educated on updates to stay ahead of the curve.
Stay tuned for potential future updates to Google’s advertising platform.
Ryan Solecki is a senior paid media specialist at Franco. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
