The government’s first publisher witness, Advance Local VP of advertising technology Grant Whitmore, wants Google to sell both AdX and its publisher ad server, DFP. The DOJ is currently asking for a DFP sale only if other remedies don’t do enough. Whitmore says Google has demonstrated it can adapt to changes and maintain its dominance.
Google attorney Karen Dunn argues that the government is seeking to go well beyond what’s needed to restore competition to the ad tech markets, and might even hurt the customers it’s seeking to help.
In the government’s opening statement, Julia Tarver Wood warns Judge Leonie Brinkema against leaving open new paths for Google to distort competition in its favor. That’s why the DOJ is asking the judge to force Google to sell its AdX exchange entirely.
In a statement outside the courthouse, Antitrust Division chief Gail Slater notes how the court known as the “rocket docket” has a statute of the tortoise and the hare outside. Speed is important in tech antitrust cases because of how quickly the markets change.
Google and the Justice Department have returned to a federal courthouse in Virginia for a two-week trial to determine how to restore competition to the advertising technology market that Google monopolized. I’ll share updates to our trial coverage stream during breaks.
Government officials are pledging to go after alleged left-wing organizations they believe are funding political violence.
After Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) called out Roblox for allegedly hosting a game referencing Kirk’s slaying, CEO David Baszucki said its policies “prohibit content and behavior that re-enacts specific real world violent or sensitive events.” Several lawmakers have pressured platforms to remove posts making light of Kirk’s death.
