The battle between Google and the US Department of Justice saw its conclusion earlier today when both sides have given their closing arguments to the Alexandria, Virginia court, as heard by US District Judge Leonie Brinkema. Significant points were heard from both companies which centered on Google's alleged advertisement monopoly which the Justice Department thrown against its business.
It is one of the fastest cases tried regarding Big Tech monopoly in history, with Google and the DOJ already at its end after only several months since the Mountain View giant was served with the complaint.
DOJ vs. Google Concludes Swiftly After Closing Arguments
The New York Times reported that both sides in the ramping antitrust case against Google have shared their closing arguments in front of Judge Brinkema regarding the digital ad monopoly hearing. Throughout the hearing, Judge Brinkema asked both sides' lawyers to avoid presenting repetitive information to the court and drag out the hearing was regarded to have pushed back regarding the case.
On the prosecution side, Department of Justice lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum claimed that Mountain View "rigged" ad auctions and allegedly controlled 'multiple parts' of services found on internet ads. Furthermore, Teitelbaum claimed that Google is "three times a monopolist."
Google's lead counsel, Karen Dunn, claimed on the other hand that the US DOJ failed to present key reasons behind its alleged monopoly, claiming that what they shared are "the exact opposite."
Read Also: Google Chatbot Gemini Snaps! Viral Rant Raises Major AI Concerns—'You Are Not Special, Human'
Google's Fate and Its Breakdown is Still Undecided
There were specific parts in Google's closing arguments that raised eyebrows from the US District Judge according to The Verge, particularly as the internet company failed to tackle significant parts of the case, especially with regards to the deleted chats that remains undisclosed.
For now, the case rests at the hands of Judge Brinkema who will share her verdict on the DOJ monopoly case against Google, especially as the fate of its ad business and Chrome browser is at stake.
Google and Its Alleged Monopolistic Behaviors
It was only this early September 2024 when Google was targeted by the US DOJ for its alleged digital ad monopoly in the tech industry which looked to break down the company after its significant years-long dominance. The US Justice Department argued that Google earned hundreds of billions in revenue throughout the years by using its tactic to undermine competition and stay ahead.
However, this was not the only prolific monopoly case that Google faced this year as also in September, the Big Tech faced a huge complaint from developer Epic Games for its massive control over the Android ecosystem's app marketplaces. Epic took the win from Google and the presiding judge previously instructed the internet company to open its Play Store to third-party payment platforms, and more.
So far, Google lost on one of the massive antitrust cases that was filed against the company regarding its Play Store, but it is now skating thin ice with the DOJ regarding its ads monopoly. The decision from Judge Brinkema remains unknown as Google and the DOJ are left to await deliberations to be finalized before the case truly concludes, marking this as one of the fastest trials on ad monopoly at the industry.
