It might prevent the automated ‘blended’ advertising across different advertising products which Google is leaning into heavily.
Google has just begun to face a significant antitrust trial brought by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) that could have major implications for the Google Ads business. The DOJ is accusing Google of using its dominance in online advertising technology to stifle competition and inflate costs for advertisers, while also limiting revenue for publishers. The case may be the most ambitious government challenge ever to the big technology companies.
The DOJ seems to want the business to be broken up. It argues that Google controls key advertising tools on both the buyer and seller sides, and has built a monopoly through anticompetitive tactics, eliminating rivals through acquisitions or exclusionary practices. It aims to prove that this control over advertising technology has led to higher fees and less transparency in the market.
In response, Google claims the market is competitive, with many other online platforms still being available. It currently has between a quarter and a third of online advertising spending in the US.
Experts suggest that if the government wins (and it initially did against Microsoft’s browser in 1999, and against Google search earlier this year), it could break up the entire Google advertising business (unlikely), break up parts of its advertising network, or just impose fines and regulation.
For the vast bulk of smaller advertisers, there’d be little impact, although it might prevent the automated ‘blended’ advertising across different advertising products which Google is leaning into heavily. The data sources used to drive automated advertising could be curtailed significantly, but again, this shouldn’t have much impact on everyday search advertising.