U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has shot down Google’s bid to avoid an antitrust trial over its advertising business.
Google is facing an antitrust lawsuit led by the DOJ and a coalition of states, in which the company is accused of unfairly dominating the advertising industry as a result of the company controlling the entire ad stack.
The lead-up to the trial has already been full of twists and turns, with the most recent being Google’s effort to avoid a jury trial. The company cited a number of legal precedents for why this case should be a bench trial, and even cut a $2.3 million check to the DOJ to cover any claimed damages. With the damages nullified, the judge agreed the case should not be decided by a jury.
Google is pushing for even more concessions, asking the judge to decide in its favor without needing to go through an entire trial. According to Reuters, Google argued that current antitrust laws don’t force companies to work with competitors, nor has the ad tech market been well-defined by regulators. Judge Brinkema shot down the company’s motion, ensuring the case will go to trial on September 9.
The case will have profound repercussions, not only for Google but also for the tech industry at large, deciding questions about cases where a single company dominates every stage of a given market.