Google judge questions company’s testimony as ad defense begins

A senior Google executive tried to refute the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust allegations over the company’s display ad technology business by testifying that Google faces “fierce competition” from companies like Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.

But a federal judge overseeing the trial in Virginia called the testimony “highly questionable” and potentially “tainted,” given that Google officials have known about antitrust concerns about its advertising tools since the United States launched an investigation in 2019.

The Justice Department, which has accused the Alphabet Inc. unit of monopolizing online ad technology tools, wrapped up its case Friday after two weeks of testimony. That allowed Google to begin presenting its defense, calling Scott Sheffer, the company’s vice president of partnerships, as its first witness.

Sheffer, who has worked at Google for 18 years, has explored the company’s various products and pointed to dozens of online rivals that pose “fierce competition” in the industry.

District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who will rule on whether Google violated the law, slammed the company’s lawyers for presenting testimony she deemed irrelevant.

“That doesn’t get to the heart of the matter in this case,” she said, questioning Sheffer’s views on competition in ad tech, since the company has been aware of antitrust investigations for more than four years. A group of state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging monopoly in 2020, and the Justice Department filed its own case last year.

Sheffer said Google recently lost several customers to Microsoft Corp., which bought AT&T Inc.’s ad technology business in 2022. Also that year, Netflix Inc. switched from Google to Microsoft’s advertising tools, in part, he said, because the Windows maker offered a financial guarantee that was “pretty big.”

Sheffer also detailed Google’s recent partnerships with X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and Roku Inc., but Brinkema ruled the company could not present evidence because it failed to disclose that information to the government earlier in the case.

Google is expected to continue its defense next week, after which the Justice Department will have the opportunity to call witnesses before the trial ends.

The government has accused Google of manipulating the $677 billion display ad market in violation of antitrust laws, creating a “trio of monopolies” to block the technology behind online ads and harm publishers and advertisers. Google has denied the allegations.

For more stories like this, visit bloomberg.com