Summary: After a major blow in its AdTech antitrust trial, Google is downplaying the ruling in an internal memo, claiming it “won half” the case — a misleading statement given it lost two out of three DOJ claims. Google’s $264 billion ad business is now under threat. As the case enters the remedies phase, the company could be forced to divest key ad tech assets like Google Ad Manager.
Following last week’s ruling in Google’s AdTech antitrust case, brought up by the DOJ, Google is now trying to reassure its employees with a new memo. Google is urging staff to maintain their focus on their work and not be overly concerned about the potential consequences that might come from this decision.
Google’s VP of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, continued to emphasize in the memo that Google won half of the case. Which is technically not true. Google was taken to court on three counts, one was dismissed and Google lost the remaining two counts to the DOJ.
“The court delivered a mixed ruling in the DOJ’s lawsuit focused on some of our ad tech. It rejected key parts of the DOJ’s case: The court found our advertiser tools don’t harm competition and our acquisitions of DoubleClick and AdMeld were not anticompetitive. But it agreed with the DOJ’s claims about one of our publisher tools. In other words, we won half, lost the other half.”
Mulholland continued to reiterate that Google does intend to appeal the ruling by the judge. Saying that it “incorrectly suggests a company like ours has a legal obligation to do business with competitors”. Which is “contrary to past Supreme Court decisions.”
Why does the AdTech ruling matter so much to Google?
Google makes a ton of money every year. In fact, in 2024, Google made just shy of $350 billion in revenue. And $264 billion was made solely from Ads. So it’s safe to say that Google’s primary source of revenue comes from ads. This is why the AdTech ruling means so much to Google. It’s effectively threatening Google’s livelihood.
While we don’t yet know what could happen to Google here, or what the Judge may force Google to do to remedy the situation, it could be drastic, though. In another case, regulators want to force Google to sell off Chrome.
Currently, the case is getting ready to go into the remedies phase. This will determine the appropriate actions to address and rectify the anti-competitive behavior identified by the court. However, this could mean that Google would need to sell off the Google Ad Manager in an effort to reduce its dominant position in the digital advertising ecosystem. The court could also implement restrictions to prevent Google from engaging in behaviors that could harm competition. This includes things like tying its ad products together in a way that would disadvantage rivals.
This portion of the case could take several months; afterwards, there will likely be an appeal by Google. So this case is still far from over.
