Google CEO Sundar Pichai (image source: iStock)
Google monopoly case: During the ongoing antitrust trial against Google, a former Google executive revealed that in 2009, the company’s goal for its online advertising business was to “crush” competing advertising networks. According to a Reuters report, this statement supports the US Justice Department’s claim that the US-based tech giant illegally attempted to monopolize the markets for ad servers for publishers, ad networks for advertisers, and ad exchanges.
“We’ll be able to crush the other networks, and that’s our goal,” said former Google display advertising president David Rosenblatt, referring to the company’s strategy in late 2008 or early 2009.
According to Reuters, the tech giant denied the allegations and said it faces fierce competition from rival digital advertising firms.
Rosenblatt joined Google in 2008 when the company acquired his former ad tech company, DoubleClick, and left the following year. Notes from his talk show he talked about the advantages of owning technology on both sides and in the middle of the market, according to the report.
“We are Goldman and NYSE,” Rosenblatt said. “Google has created something comparable to NYSE or the London Stock Exchange; in other words, we will do for display what Google did for search.”
He also revealed that by owning publishers’ ad servers, Google’s ad network would have first crack at ad space, making it harder for publishers to switch platforms. Rosenblatt also said it was a “nightmare” for publishers to switch platforms.
Another former DoubleClick executive, Brad Bender, who worked at Google until 2022, testified at the trial that he sent the notes to his team and called them “valuable reading” at the time.
Google says it is not the only company offering a full suite of products for advertisers and publishers. Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms also offer similar services.
If U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema finds that Google violated the law, she would consider prosecutors’ request to force Google to at least sell Google Ad Manager, a platform that includes the company’s ad server for publishers and its ad exchange.
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