Google’s Motion to Dismiss Advertising Antitrust Case Denied by US Judge

A US federal choose on Friday denied Google‘s movement to dismiss a Division of Justice antitrust case targeted on promoting know-how, saying the federal government’s case was robust sufficient to go ahead.

The federal government, which filed the advert tech lawsuit in January, has argued that Google must be pressured to promote its advert supervisor suite. Google has denied any wrongdoing.

“I’ll deny the defendant’s movement to dismiss,” Choose Leonie Brinkema mentioned in a federal court docket in Virginia. Google is a unit of Alphabet.

Google’s movement is the corporate’s newest effort to finish pricey, time-consuming antitrust lawsuits. It additionally requested a federal court docket in Washington to dismiss claims in a 2020 lawsuit filed by the federal government.

Arguing for Google, Eric Mahr mentioned that the Justice Division did not allege a excessive sufficient market share, 70 p.c, to have the ability to say that Google had market energy.

Brinkema, nevertheless, mentioned that there have been components past market share to think about, for instance if an organization was responsible of “rapacious conduct.”

Brinkema additionally took situation with Mahr’s argument that the federal government had reviewed Google’s offers to purchase DoubleClick and Admeld, each greater than 10 years in the past, to extend its clout in advert tech, noting that the federal government mentioned it made a mistake.

Mahr additionally argued that the Justice Division failed to point out that advertisers suffered any damages due to Google’s actions. He additionally mentioned the federal government improperly excluded Fb and others in its definition of the market, calling them “apparent substitutes.”

© Thomson Reuters 2023