As the second phase of the Google ad tech trial was winding down, Judge Leonie Brinkema was still hoping that Google and the Justice Department would take the decision out of her hands. “My favorite phrase is ‘Let’s settle this case,'” she told attorneys for both sides shortly before adjourning the courtroom after more than […]
On April 17th, 2025, Judge Brinkema ruled that Google did act illegally to acquire and maintain monopoly power in online advertising. Now, DOJ and Google lawyers are returning to the courtroom to argue over whether this should lead to a Google breakup by forcing the company to sell its AdX exchange. In the initial trial, […]
Breaking up Google’s ad tech monopoly is, apparently, like going to Mars or trying to replace Michael Jordan – dubiously possible and a huge amount of work. Those were some of the analogies witnesses testifying in Google’s defense told a federal judge this week as the company mounts its second attempt to stave off a […]
To WikiHow, Google is both tormentor and savior. And on Wednesday, as the search giant mounted its defense in the ongoing ad tech remedies trial, the how-to site came to Google’s rescue. WikiHow CEO Elizabeth Douglas described to a court how websites like hers are the middle of an “AI apocalypse.” WikiHow, a website that […]
Thanks to a deal struck by Zillow and Redfin in February, renters have had fewer options for browsing apartment listings, and they might not have even realized it. Now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing the companies alleging that their partnership violates antitrust laws calling it, “an illegal agreement to dismantle Redfin as a […]
On day three of the two-week remedies trial in the Justice Department’s ad tech case against Google, Judge Leonie Brinkema boiled down the argument to one key issue: trust. Brinkema interrupted testimony from a DOJ expert with a hypothetical: should she issue a strict order modifying Google’s behavior, could it resolve the issues at hand […]
Starting Monday, the US government will get another crack at convincing a federal judge to break up Google, after a different judge decided to keep it intact despite finding it to be a monopolist. Lawyers for Google and the Justice Department will return to a federal courthouse in Alexandria, VA for a roughly two-week trial […]
The latest targets in the White House’s on-again–off-again antitrust war are Ticketmaster and Live Nation, two villains that everyone appears to agree on. The Federal Trade Commission is accusing Ticketmaster (which owns Live Nation) of allowing ticket brokers to illegally exceed limits on purchases and then profiting off the inflated resale value. Customers often pay […]
The European Commission has waged a €2.95 billion (~$3.5 billion) fine against Google for “abusing its dominant position” in advertising technology. In its announcement, the Commission claims that Google’s alleged anticompetitive practices have increased costs for advertisers and publishers, potentially raising prices for consumers as a result. The Commission has ordered Google to come up […]
Around six years ago, a new rallying cry rippled through Washington: “Break Up Big Tech.” It was a slogan emblazoned on campaign posters, uttered at congressional hearings, and beginning, it seemed, to echo through the halls of the nation’s antitrust enforcers. Momentum in the legislatures eventually petered out, but the enforcers at the Justice Department […]