Attorney General Kwame Raoul has announced a legal victory following a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Google. The court determined that Google held illegal monopolies in digital advertising technology, disadvantaging website publishers, advertisers, and consumers. This decision marks a result of a lawsuit involving Raoul, a bipartisan coalition of 17 attorneys general, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed against Google in 2023. The coalition sought to curb Google’s anticompetitive practices affecting the online advertising sector.
"Google has created an environment in the digital world that has caused harm to online publishers and advertisers by weakening a free and open internet," Raoul stated. “Google has maintained its monopolies in digital advertising technologies for too long, and I am pleased that the court found the company liable for its unlawful actions.”
The court found Google liable under antitrust laws for maintaining control over online ad sales, enabling higher fees from advertisers and paying less to publishers for ad space. This has resulted in challenges for website operators to generate sufficient revenue, impacting their ability to offer free content without facing financial constraints.
The decision was delivered by Judge Leonie Brinkema, who found Google's actions in acquiring and maintaining monopolies in the ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web advertising to be unlawful. The ruling also found Google accountable for anticompetitive conduct by tying its publisher ad server and ad exchange, negatively affecting competition and customer choices.
Future proceedings will address the remedies for Google's conduct.
Alongside Raoul and the DOJ, attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia are involved in the lawsuit.