Google Ad Tech antitrust case will go to trial, judge rules

(Bloomberg) — Alphabet Inc. will have to defend itself at trial against all U.S. Justice Department allegations of Google’s monopoly in online advertising technology after a federal judge rejected the tech giant’s request to decide the case in advance.

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“We’re going to let this go to trial” as scheduled in September, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said Friday at a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia. There are “a lot of facts in dispute,” she said.

Google sought summary judgment in the case, asking that it be decided before a trial. The company argued that antitrust authorities have failed to demonstrate that it controls at least 70% of the market for display advertising displayed on the open web and that Google does not qualify as a monopoly.

Companies sued for antitrust violations often seek to avoid or restrict the issues to be presented at trial. In the Justice Department’s other antitrust case against Google over its search business, the tech giant convinced a judge to reject some of the claims brought by state attorneys general before the trial, which took place last fall.

Last year, the department sued Google, alleging it monopolized the market for advertising technology used to buy, sell and serve online video and display ads.

The agency requested a jury trial after seeking damages on behalf of federal government agencies that purchased online ads. But Brinkema ruled last week that the case will proceed as a court trial — without a jury — after Google cut a $2.3 million cashier’s check to cover the government’s alleged damages.

At Friday’s hearing, Brinkema also disqualified one of the experts Google tried to call in the September trial, concluding that his testimony was not “necessary or relevant” to the case.

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