US vs Google ad tech trial: What is “parking” that YouTube CEO Neal Mohan explained during hearing

The US vs Google advertising hearing entered the second week on September 16. The ongoing antitrust lawsuit, filed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) against Google in 2023, focuses on Google’s alleged dominance in the digital advertising technology (ad tech) market. The trial kicked off with YouTube CEO Neal Mohan testing that Google’s success is driven by innovation and not by crushing rivals.
Defending Google’s ad tech practices, Mohan refuted accusations by the DoJ that the company crushed rivals as it became an advertising behemoth. He said that the search giant faced tough competition in the ad tech market, and the accusations were not to crush the competition but to enhance the services and tools offered by the company to its business customers, including publishers and advertisers.
Google’s success “falls back to one single thing: product innovation and the sale and services we were able to offer,” Mohan said in his testimony.

What the government is saying

Lawyers for the Justice Department highlighted emails, memos and other documents alleging that Google removed the competition through acquisitions of rivals – such as DoubleClick and ad tech tool competitor AdMeld – because it was a threat. The government sees it as evidence that Google was trying to take a competition out, as per The Verge.

What is “parking” that the DoJ is alleging

Justice Department lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum pointed out a 2010 email that Mohan wrote about Google acquiring AdMeld, then “parking” it within the company. Mohan joined Google as part of its acquisition of the advertising software company DoubleClick in 2008.
“If you bought one and parked it, it would let us solve the problems from a position of strength,” replied the recipient, a fellow Google employee.
Mohan clarified that “parking” the company didn’t mean it will stop offering services. “That’s absolutely not what was going on,” he said.
He said that Google’s interest in Admeld stemmed from its advanced development, but assured that Google had no plans to abandon the product. He explained that “parking” an acquired company means allowing it to function independently while Google gradually integrates its technology. This process can take years.
Ultimately, he stated, Google’s goal was to “build the best advertising stack for publishers, as well as tools for advertisers.”