Back to all blog posts

Court Rules: Google Has an Illegal Grip on the Search Market

By Asaf Shamly | September 10, 2024

Google has a major problem on its hands. A judge just ruled that the tech giant has an illegal grip on the search market. As if the judge’s siding with the Department of Justice (DOJ) isn’t bad enough for Google, some of the evidence against the trust came from where nobody expected, its own witnesses in the trial.

We’re talking about some juicy stuff here. Google’s own witnesses such as Jerry Dischler – their former VP and GM of ads – casually admitted to raising search ad prices without telling advertisers. But wait, there’s more. Get this: another Google witness spilled the beans on the trust’s ties with Safari. Apparently, Google pays Apple a 36% revenue share to be Safari’s default search engine. Evidence pages in their hundreds prove one thing. Google’s search monopoly is big. What hits even harder is the expected impact the revelation has in the real world.

 

So what happens next?

The exact sanctions Google faces are unclear, as there’s still room for an appeal. For sure though, Google’s definitely in hot water. When it comes to possible outcomes of the revelations, a full break-up of Google is a bit too drastic. Even breaking up Google’s search monopoly is going to be a tough nut to crack. The court might still impose some serious changes to their operations. Maybe the judge will limit the contracts that allow Google to remain on top. Selling some parts of Google is also feasible.

If the court decides to make Google sell one part of the business like Chrome or Android, that would be crazy! But, it might tell where we are going regarding the other upcoming trial and if they will make them split Google Ad Manager from Google Ads.

 

It’s not over yet

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Google, there’s a new antitrust trial starting September 9th. This time, the DOJ accuses Google of monopolizing digital advertising.

With a proven monopolist on trial, the DOJ’s job got a lot easier.

One last thing, the September antitrust trial is believed to put Google in front of even tougher sanctions. The judge already stated there are not going to be any concessions this time, particularly on accusations such as deleting evidence, something Google encouraged its employees to do. Google’s luck might be running out.

 

Latest Articles

  • Ad Blockers Are No Longer the Problem They Used to Be

    Today, according to recent stats, 31.5% of internet users globally use ad blockers at least occasionally. While most traffic now comes from mobile devices, desktop still dominates ad blocking. This, of course, comes with considerable cost implications. Just this year, the popular use of ad blockers is estimated to cost publishers $54 billion in lost advertising revenue. But the situation isn’t as bad as it once was. Ad blocking is no longer a massive problem for publishers.

    View Now

  • Attention is Officially Becoming The New Tradable Currency

    The days of vague attention metrics are officially over. The Media Rating Council (MRC) and The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) are finally teaming up to standardize attention measurement, marking a significant milestone in the publishing industry. At this stage accreditation guidelines are expected to roll out in early 2025, this is huge news for publishers, and it’s happening just in time.

    View Now

  • Condé Nast’s Deal with OpenAI: Is History Just Repeating Itself?

    In a move that signals a potential shift in the media landscape, Condé Nast licensed content to OpenAI to fuel ChatGPT and SearchGPT. This would be content from leading brands under Condé Nast, such as GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue.

    View Now