Google is preparing to face the U.S. government in federal court on Friday, where a judge will consider methods to curb what have been deemed abusive practices within the company’s digital advertising operations—parts of which were previously ruled an illegal monopoly.

The hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, will bring Google’s attorneys and lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice together for closing arguments. The proceedings are centered around the complex systems that power the billions of online ads delivered each day.

Figure 1. Google and the U.S. Fight for Control of Internet Advertising.

Following a lengthy trial last year, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled in April that key components of Google’s advertising technology were designed to unlawfully solidify its monopoly. That ruling led to an additional 11-day trial this fall to determine the appropriate remedy for Google’s anti-competitive behavior. Friday’s arguments represent the final opportunity for both sides to influence Brinkema before she issues a decision, expected early next year. Figure 1 shows Google and the U.S. Fight for Control of Internet Advertising.

The Justice Department is urging Brinkema to order Google to divest portions of the ad tech stack it has built over two decades, arguing that a breakup is the only effective solution. Prosecutors described Google as a “repeat monopolist,” referring to both its ad practices and its dominance in search. In the search case, federal prosecutors similarly sought a breakup, proposing that Google sell the Chrome browser—an idea rejected by the presiding judge.

Though Google must still implement reforms it opposes, the outcome of the search case has generally been viewed as a mild penalty [1]. The perception that Google escaped major consequences helped drive parent company Alphabet’s market value up by about $950 billion—roughly 37%—to nearly $3.5 trillion since Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling in early September.

Still, the Justice Department remains committed to pursuing a breakup of Google’s ad tech ecosystem, which processes an estimated 55 million ad requests per second. This massive scale is one of Google’s central arguments against restructuring, warning that dismantling the system could jeopardize the functioning of global advertising markets.

“This is technology that must operate flawlessly for consumers,” Google stated in court filings, describing the DOJ’s proposal as a set of “legally unprecedented and unsupported divestitures.”

Google also maintains that its own reforms will improve transparency and competition and points to rapid disruption from artificial intelligence as a reason for the court to tread carefully. Judge Mehta previously noted that AI is already increasing competitive pressure on Google.

However, the Justice Department urged Brinkema to prioritize testimony from witnesses who detailed why the company cannot be trusted to regulate itself, arguing that Google can manipulate the underlying algorithms driving its monopolistic systems in ways that are nearly impossible to detect.

Reference:

1. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/sme-sector/kochi-to-host-et-make-in-india-sme-regional-summit-on-november-21/articleshow/125240683.cms

Cite this article:

Keerthana S (2025), Google and the U.S. government clash over the future of online advertising, AnaTechMaz, pp.240