Federal Judge Rules Google Illegally Monopolized Ad Markets

In a landmark ruling with massive implications for Big Tech, a federal judge declared Thursday that Google illegally monopolized key online advertising markets, setting the stage for the Biden DOJ to potentially break up the tech giant’s ad empire.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema found that Google had abused its power in the open-web display advertising space for over a decade. Specifically, the company used anticompetitive contracts and tightly-integrated technologies to dominate both the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets effectively crushing competition and controlling how ads are bought and sold across the internet.

“Google engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts,” Brinkema wrote in her 115-page opinion, “to acquire and maintain monopoly power.”

Here’s how Google rigged the system:

• It tied together its ad server and ad exchange in a way that locked out competitors.

• It imposed harmful policies on publishers and advertisers that limited choice and inflated costs.

• It stifled innovation by punishing anyone who dared try to use independent tools or platforms.

All of this harmed not just businesses, but consumers who rely on free information and content supported by digital advertising.

Let’s be honest this isn’t news to anyone who’s been paying attention. Google has spent years weaponizing its dominance, not only in ads but in search, browsers, and news distribution. It processes over 90% of internet searches in the U.S. through its Chrome browser, which is now also under fire from the DOJ.

And while Google cries foul, claiming prosecutors are ignoring competition from Amazon and Comcast, the facts don’t lie. The tech goliath has used its massive reach to:

• Suppress conservative media, pushing legacy liberal outlets to the top of search results.

• Censor election-related information, including burying news about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump something Republican lawmakers are still investigating.

• Silence dissent, de-platforming voices it doesn’t politically agree with while masquerading as a neutral platform.

This ruling should be a wake-up call: No company should have unchecked control over how information flows online. Not when that company has shown again and again that it’s willing to abuse that control for profit and politics.

The DOJ is now in a strong position to demand real accountability. A separate trial aimed at breaking up Google’s search engine monopoly begins Monday. It's about time that one of the most powerful companies in the world is held to account not just for its business practices, but for its broader assault on transparency, competition, and free speech.

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