Google faces trial over Ad Tech monopoly

Google lost its bid to avoid trial in a U.S. government antitrust lawsuit over its alleged monopoly in advertising technology after a federal judge on Friday rejected its motion for summary judgment.

U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, dismissing Google’s motion, said “there are too many facts in dispute,” Bloomberg reported.

Such motions are only approved if the judge determines that there is no factual dispute to be resolved at the hearing.

Google argued that the judge should rule in its favor because antitrust laws do not prohibit companies from refusing to do business with competitors.

It also found that the government failed to demonstrate that it controlled at least 70 percent of the market for display advertising displayed on the Internet and that it did not qualify as a monopoly.

Adtech Fees

At the same hearing, Brinkema agreed to prevent a former FBI agent who was a cybersecurity consultant for Google from testifying as an expert on the company’s behalf.

The Justice Department and a coalition of eight states sued Google last year over claims that it illegally monopolizes digital advertising and overcharges users.

The lawsuit, which will go to court on September 9, aims to break up Google’s online advertising business.

“We look forward to resolving the situation,” Google said in a statement.

A week earlier, Brinkema rejected the Justice Department’s request for a jury trial after Google sent the government a check for $2.3 million (£1.81 million) covering the government’s claims in the case.

Bench test

Non-monetary cases are heard directly by judges in so-called bench trials, and the judge said Google had resolved the damages issue with what could be compared to a “cash wheelbarrow.”

As a result, Brinkema will decide on the matter itself.

The Justice Department previously argued to Brinkema that Google “fought hard to conceal its anticompetitive conduct from the public.”

Google is facing a separate lawsuit in the UK in which online publishers are seeking up to £13.6 billion in damages over the company’s allegedly anti-competitive advertising technology practices, following last week’s ruling by the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

The company is also in the middle of an ongoing antitrust lawsuit in the District of Columbia over its search engine business, in which a judge has heard closing arguments but has not yet issued a ruling.