© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Google LLC logo is seen at the Google offices in the Chelsea section of New York City, U.S., January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/
By Diana Bartz
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) – A U.S. federal judge said on Friday that a Justice Department lawsuit against Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:) Google over its dominance of ad technology would stand in Virginia, rejecting the offer. from Google to move it to New York.
“I’m going to rule against you,” Judge Leonie Brinkema told a Google lawyer.
The government, which filed the ad tech lawsuit in January along with eight states, accused the company of abusing its dominance in the digital advertising business and argued that it should be forced to sell its ad management suite, which brought 12% of the company’s revenue. income in 2021.
Google has denied any wrongdoing in the management of its ad-tech business.
Google had asked that the case be moved to federal court in Manhattan, where the company is fighting similar claims, including one brought by the Texas attorney general in 2020.
Eric Mahr, a lawyer for Google, argued that there was a risk of an inconsistent trial if the case was not moved to New York.
Justice Department attorney Julia Wood said there would be significant inefficiencies for the federal government if it were to join the biggest case heard in New York.
Wood also said there were “significant differences” between the Justice Department case and many of the New York cases.
The Justice Department’s ad-tech lawsuit follows a separate lawsuit filed in 2020, the end of the Trump administration, that accused Google of violating antitrust law to maintain its dominance in search. That case will go to trial in September.
The lawsuit comes as the Biden administration seeks to toughen antitrust enforcement. Not only is he looking to control a tech giant in his Google suit, but he has a long list of merger challenges.
The search and advertising giant, which also makes a smartphone operating system and owns YouTube, faces antitrust lawsuits around the world, most alleging domain abuse of one kind or another.
US courts facing transfer requests weigh a variety of factors, including the location of witnesses and evidence.
