- A federal judge ruled Google holds an illegal monopoly in advertising technology.
- The court could force a breakup of Google’s adtech business.
- Another judge previously ruled Google violated antitrust law with its online search.
Google has been dealt another major blow by a federal judge.
Judge Leonie Brinkema of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled on Thursday that Google holds an illegal monopoly in advertising technology.
The US Department of Justice and 17 state attorneys general had brought an antitrust lawsuit against Google, arguing that the tech giant used acquisitions and anticompetitive ad auction tactics to build an illegal monopoly of the digital ad market.
The ruling — the second one by a federal judge that found Google to be a monopolist — followed a weekslong landmark trial last year.
“For over a decade, Google has tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange together through contractual policies and technological integration, which enabled the company to establish and protect its monopoly power in these two markets,” Brinkema wrote.
The judge said that Google further cemented its monopoly power in the adtech business by imposing anticompetitive policies on its customers and "eliminating desirable product features."
"In addition to depriving rivals of the ability to compete," Brinkema wrote, "this exclusionary conduct substantially harmed Google's publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web."
There will be a court hearing at a later date to determine remedies for Google's violations of US competition laws. The court could force a breakup of Google's adtech business.
A breakup of the company would be a major boost for rival adtech firms like The Trade Desk and Magnite.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In August, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that Google violated antitrust law with its online search.
"Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," US District Judge Amit Mehta wrote in his ruling.
A hearing in that case, which could also result in a company breakup, is set to begin Monday.
This is a developing story and will be updated.