US District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled on Thursday that Google violated antitrust laws by committing anticompetitive acts to "acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising."
"For over a decade, Google has tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange together through contractual policies and technological integration, which enabled the company to establish and protect its monopoly power in these two markets. Google further entrenched its monopoly power by imposing anticompetitive policies on its customers and eliminating desirable product features," Brinkema said in her ruling. However, the judge dismissed the plaintiffs' argument that the company monopolized ad networks.
Google's vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said that the company disagrees with the court's decision on its publisher tools, noting that Google will appeal the ruling.
