The Justice Division has in current weeks carried out new interviews for its investigation into Google’s advert know-how, an indication it could be shifting nearer to submitting its second antitrust case in opposition to the corporate, mentioned three folks with information of the matter.
The Justice Division for greater than a yr has investigated whether or not Google abuses its dominance over the interlocking applied sciences that ship advertisements on-line. Its legal professionals are actually talking once more with publishers and Google’s opponents to collect new materials, verify proof and take a look at its authorized idea forward of a potential lawsuit, mentioned the folks, who weren’t approved to debate confidential issues.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Division didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Bloomberg earlier reported the Justice Division conferences.
“The big competitors in internet advertising has made on-line advertisements extra related, diminished advert tech charges and expanded choices for publishers and advertisers,” mentioned Peter Schottenfels, a Google spokesman.
On Aug. 31, U.S. District Courtroom of the Southern District of New York will hear Google’s movement to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit led by the State of Texas over the corporate’s advert tech practices. By ready for a ruling on that matter, Justice Division officers might see what a decide thinks of the antitrust claims earlier than continuing with a lawsuit of their very own, these folks mentioned.
Texas argues in its case that Google obtained and abused a monopoly over the digital promoting trade to govern auctions and generate income far higher than these of rival advert exchanges. These are the identical points that the Justice Division has been investigating, mentioned folks aware of the investigation.
In 2020, the Justice Division filed a lawsuit arguing that Google had damaged antimonopoly legal guidelines by abusing its energy over on-line search. Later that yr, the attorneys normal of Texas and 9 different states filed their very own lawsuit targeted on Google’s management of the show advert tech ecosystem, which is utilized by publishers like information shops to promote advert house on their web sites.
This summer time, Google supplied to resolve the Justice Division inquiry by shifting its advert tech companies right into a separate unit below its dad or mum firm, Alphabet, in line with an individual with information of the supply, which was earlier reported by The Wall Avenue Journal. However the authorities was very skeptical of the supply, the particular person mentioned.
Mr. Schottenfels mentioned that Google was “partaking constructively with regulators to handle their issues” and “now we have no plans to promote or exit this enterprise.”