Google almost cut ad exchange fees ahead of antitrust action

Eight years ago, Google considered cutting its ad exchange fees—the highest in the industry—after websites figured out a way to boost online ad revenue while bypassing the company’s tools, former executives testified in an antitrust trial by the U.S. Justice Department.

Display ad selling sites have developed a new technology, known as header bidding, to try to counter Google’s high fee structure and squeeze more revenue out of the transaction. The Alphabet Inc. unit never lowered its 20% fee and instead developed a modified version of the technology in 2019.