Google faces U.S. Justice demand to break up ad empire
The US Department of Justice is calling for Alphabet, Google's parent company, to divest key components of its online advertising infrastructure. The department has filed a request to dismantle the company, contending that it has monopolised the advertising technology market, to the detriment of competition and publishers.
The United States Department of Justice has officially submitted a court request for the enforced separation of parts of Alphabet’s advertising operations, focusing on its ownership of Google.
The department insists that the company offload its critical assets—namely, the AdX advertising exchange and the DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad server, which manages campaigns for publishers.
Google refutes the allegations
This request comes in the wake of Judge Leonie Brinkema's ruling, which found that Google had established a monopoly in the advertising technology sector, thereby stifling competition and innovation.
The Department of Justice argues that the company’s dominant position has resulted in inflated advertising costs for clients while concurrently reducing revenue for publishers, according to reports by investing.com.
American authorities are seeking an immediate divestiture of AdX by Alphabet, followed by a phased divestiture of DFP.
Google denies accusations of abusing its market position and has announced plans to defend itself against any attempts at a forced breakup.
