Washington – The Department of Justice presented opening arguments in its case against Google’s advertising technology, accusing it of antitrust violations for its service used to connect websites to advertisers and place ads on third party websites. The DOJ is offering a narrow definition of advertising markets and is expected to call as witnesses both larger ad brokerage services that compete with Google like Comcast, Trade Desk and Pubmatic as well as print advertisers like newspapers.
In its opening statement, Google’s lead attorney emphasized that Google competes in this space vigorously with other companies like Microsoft and Disney and also pointed to Google’s investment in research and development to make its ad technology popular.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has advocated for competition in the tech industry for more than 50 years, having aligned with the DOJ in some previous cases, including the IBM, AT&T and Microsoft matters.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“Even as the trial begins, the premise of the DOJ case remains puzzling. Digital companies compete vigorously for advertising dollars across various mediums and screens of all sizes, yet the government artificially draws a line around one approach to ad tech. This is an implausible view of a highly dynamic digital marketplace – to say nothing of print, outdoor, and broadcast.”