Government Intervenes in Ongoing Google's Antitrust Drama

Hey LinkedIn fam, have you heard the latest news about Google? Nope, not the layoffs. The lawsuit the Department Of Justice (DOJ) is imposing on Google.

Here's a summary so far:

The Justice Department and eight states are suing the tech giant over its digital ad business, accusing the company of using its dominance in the market to harm competitors and force ad buyers and sellers to use its products at less favorable terms. This means that websites that rely on digital advertising are getting less revenue from those ads than they otherwise would, which means less money to fund their offerings. Advertisers are also paying more than they should, and those costs are usually passed down to the customer.

The DOJ is trying to force Google to sell or spin off parts of its digital ad arm so it will no longer have control over every side of the ad tech stack. Google earned about $169 billion in digital ads worldwide in 2022, but the vast majority of that revenue comes from search ads. However, this lawsuit is targeting the part of Google's business that places ads on websites outside of Google's properties.

In a rare move, the DOJ is also asking for monetary damages for the government, saying that Google's anticompetitive inflated ad prices cost the government money through the $100 million of display ads it’s bought since 2019. The federal government is saying it, too, is a victim of Google's bad ad behavior.

This lawsuit comes at a tough time for Google as it has lost about 25 percent of its stock's value in the last year and is in the process of laying off 12,000 people. This is an unwelcome addition to Google's woes, and it's also a distraction for the company as it's pushing back against new regulations and contending with competitive threats in other areas.

So, here's my thoughts on all of this:

The ongoing drama surrounding Google's business practices has been a topic of concern for quite some time. The European Union, in particular, has been investigating and taking action against Google for longer than the United States has. To be honest, I am glad that the issue is finally getting the attention it deserves

What is intriguing about this situation is that government intervention may only be happening because they themselves have been affected by Google's actions. It makes one wonder if any of this would be happening if the government had not been personally impacted by the issue.

This is important for us advertisers because it can potentially lead to higher costs, as well as a lack of competition in the advertising market. This can also limit the choices and information available to consumers. If there are fewer players in the market, there may be less incentive for companies to come up with new and creative ways to reach consumers. This could also have a negative impact on the overall economy.