The remedy phase of Google’s ad-tech antitrust trial begins today. At the end of it, Google will find out its fate in this trial. As a reminder, Google did lose the ad-tech trial, so the only thing that remains to be seen is what steps will the company be forced to take to remedy the situation.
Google lost its ad-tech trial in April, and the remedy phase starts today
Google lost this trial back in April, when US Disctrict Court Judge, Leonie Brinkema, ruled against the company. It was ruled that Google maintained monopolies in the open web display publisher ad server, and ad exchange markets.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and a coalition of states are asking the court to force Google to sell its ad exchange, AdX. That’s where online publishers pay a 20% fee to Google in order to sell ads in auctions that happen instantly when users load websites.
The DOJ is also asking the court to require Google to make the mechanism that decides the winner of those auctions open source. Google is asking that Brinkema be cautious in the approach to this trial, as was a judge in a separate online search monopoly trial.
Google lost the online search monopoly trial too, but avoided blows that would hurt the most
As a reminder, while Google did lose the online search monopoly trial, it won’t be forced to sell Chrome or Android. Most of the major moves have been rejected by the court. Google will be required to take specific steps, though, to make things easier for the competition, for example, It also won’t be allowed to make exclusivity agreements for its search engine, like the one it had with Apple.
In any case, regarding this ad-tech trial, Google said that the DOJ’s proposal is technically unworkable and that it would lead to prolonged uncertainty for both advertisers and publishers.
Google’s proposal is to change its policies, instead of selling AdX. Changing those policies would make it easier for publishers to use and support competing platforms. The DOJ believes that’s nowhere near enough to restore competition.
It remains to be seen what will happen after the remedies trial.
The post Google’s Ad-Tech Fate on the Line as Remedies Trial Kicks Off appeared first on Android Headlines.
