Google may very well be selling part of its ad tech business in the near future as part of its requirements to rectify the alleged damage it’s done by having a monopoly in the industry (this wouldn’t be Google’s first monopoly , either). Earlier this year, Google was reported to be facing a potential breakup of its ad business as the US DOJ alleged in a lawsuit that Google held a monopoly in the space. That antitrust case reached a ruling way back in April , to which Google said it would likely appeal.
Now, several months later, the judge who is presiding over the case, U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema, will be making her final decision on what Google will need to do. Brinkema already ruled that it had two illegal monopolies in the AdTech business, but hadn’t decided what Google’s “punishment” would be to fix the issue. Many had suspected Google would be forced to break up parts of its ad business, but Google is making an argument that such a request isn’t something that’s necessarily possible.
Google says selling part of its AdTech business is “unworkable” and “would create significant uncertainty”
It should come as no surprise that Google is going to fight this tooth and nail before a final decision is even made. In an official post on the company’s blog, the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Google, Lee-Anne Mulholland, published a series of court testimony highlights about the case.
In the post, Mulholland said that the Testimony showed “the DOJ’s proposal to break up Google Ad Manager is unworkable and would create significant uncertainty and disruption for advertisers and publishers.”
Google isn’t saying it’s impossible per se, but that’s likely the implication, given the use of the word unworkable. However, Mulholland also says that a range of experts came to the conclusion that breaking up Ad Manager would require a massive technical undertaking, and that this wouldn’t work. Jason Nieh, a Google expert professor, called the undertaking highly complicated and said there was “ no guarantee of success .” Brinkema wants a fast fix for the issue, but it’s still unclear what she’ll decide.
