US accuses Google of 'driving out' ad rivals

By Chris Vallance

Technology reporter, BBC News

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and eight US states have filed a case against Google alleging it has too much power over the online ad market.

Its anti-competitive actions had "weakened if not destroyed competition in the ad tech industry", US Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

Google accused the DOJ of "doubling down on a flawed argument".

The case attempted to "pick winners and losers" in a competitive industry, the firm said.

Online advertising accounts for the lion's share of Google's multibillion dollar revenue.

Google is the market leader, but its slice of total US digital ad income has fallen from 36.7% in 2016 to 28.8% in 2022, according to market research firm Insider Intelligence.

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Mr Garland alleged that Google's anti-competitive conduct extended into three key areas:

• It controls the technology used by nearly all major website publishers to offer ad space for sale.
• It controls the leading tool used by advertisers to buy ad space.
• It controls the largest ad exchange that matches publishers and advertisers.

As a result of Google's scheme, "website creators earn less and advertisers pay more", Mr Garland said.