Google’s antitrust lawsuit over advertising technology will go to trial, a judge has ruled

Alphabet Inc. will have to defend itself at trial against all of the US Justice Department’s claims about Google’s monopoly in online advertising technology after a federal judge rejected the tech giant’s request for an early resolution of the case.

“We will take the case to trial” as scheduled in September, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said June 14 at a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia. “There are too many facts in dispute,” she said.

Google moved the court for summary judgment in this case, asking for a ruling before trial. The company argued that antitrust enforcers failed to demonstrate that it controlled at least 70% of the market for display advertising displayed on the open web and that Google did not qualify as a monopoly.

Companies sued for antitrust violations often try to avoid or limit the issues to be presented at trial. In another antitrust lawsuit brought by the Justice Department against Google over its search business, the tech giant persuaded a judge to dismiss some of the claims brought by state attorneys general ahead of a hearing last fall.

Last year, the department sued Google, accusing it of monopolizing the market for ad technology used to buy, sell and serve video and display ads on the Internet.

The agency asked for a jury trial after seeking damages on behalf of federal government agencies that bought online ads. But last week, Brinkema ruled that the case would go to a jury trial – without a jury – after Google cut a $2.3 million cashier’s check to cover alleged government damages.

At the hearing, Brinkema also disqualified one of the experts Google wanted to call at the September trial, finding that his testimony was not “necessary or relevant” to the case.

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