Google and US Government clash over internet ad future

Google will face the U.S. government's newest effort to undermine its online dominance in federal court on Friday, as a judge evaluates...

Google will face the U.S. government's newest effort to undermine its online dominance in federal court on Friday, as a judge evaluates measures to stop the exploitative practices that led to sections of its digital advertising network being labeled as an unlawful monopoly.

The legal battle in Alexandria, Virginia, will see attorneys from Google and the U.S. Department of Justice face off during final arguments centered on the intricate technology that delivers millions of online advertisements daily.

Following a long trial last year, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema decided in April that certain components of Google's advertising technology had been manipulated to create an unlawful monopoly. This led to an additional 11-day trial earlier this fall, aimed at helping Brinkema figure out the appropriate remedy for its anti-competitive behavior.

The closing statements on Friday will offer Google and the Department of Justice one last opportunity to influence Brinkema prior to her decision, which is likely to be announced early next year.

The Department of Justice is urging Brinkema to compel Google to sell parts of its advertising technology, which the company has developed over almost two decades. The agency argues that a split is necessary to control a firm that its legal team has labeled a "repeat monopolist" in documents submitted before Friday's court session.

The criticism encompasses not just Google's actions in online advertising, but also the unlawful monopoly it created via its leading search engine. Federal prosecutors also pushed for a division in the search monopoly case, yet the judge overseeing the matter dismissed a suggestion that would have compelled Google to sell its widely-used Chrome web browser.

Even though Google continues to face demands for changes it is resisting, the result in the search monopoly case has been generally viewed as a mild reprimand. The perception that Google faced minimal consequences in the search case is largely responsible for the significant increase in the market value of its parent company, Alphabet, which rose by approximately $950 billion, or 37%, reaching almost $3.5 trillion since U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta's ruling was announced in early September.

That obstacle has not deterred the Department of Justice from advocating for the dissolution of an advertising technology system that processes 55 million requests each second, as stated in Google's legal documents.

The massive amount of online advertisements sold and managed via Google's platform is one of the key factors that its legal team argues makes it too dangerous to mandate the breakup of this complex system.

This is technology that must continue to function for users," Google states in papers submitted ahead of Friday's court session. The company's legal team criticized the Department of Justice's plan as a set of "legally untested and unjustified asset sales.

In addition to claiming that its suggested modifications will enhance price visibility and encourage greater competition, Google is also referencing the market disruption caused by artificial intelligence as another justification for the judge to exercise caution in her ruling.

In his ruling on the search monopoly case, Mehta stated that AI was already presenting greater competition to Google.

However, the Department of Justice asked the judge to concentrate on the statements from numerous trial witnesses who explained why Google cannot be trusted to alter its underhanded practices.

The Justice Department stated in legal documents that witnesses "described how Google can alter computer algorithms, which drive its monopolies, in methods that are hard to identify."

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).