US Department of Justice wants to split up Google

The US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Google, demanding the split of the company. According to the ministry, Google should divest Ad Manager and AdX.

The ministry says in the indictment that Google has a monopoly position in the field of online advertising and abuses that position in many ways. The ministry refers, among other things, to Project Bell, with which Google lowered advertisers’ bids for publications without permission if they had entered into a partnership with a competitor. The ministry points to many more similar practices that indicate abuse of power.

According to The Wall Street Journal it is a part of Google that provided 12 percent of the company’s turnover in 2021. The advertising server for publications had a market share of 90 percent in 2015 and is therefore much larger than the closest competition.

Google denies the allegations and says that competition has actually increased. For example, Netflix teamed up with Microsoft last year for the sale of advertisements in its subscription form with ads. The Justice Department has asked for a jury trial. Such a case can take months to years.