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Everything to know as the Google ad tech remedies trial begins

Triangle bunting in blue, red, green and yellow being cut by a greyscale hand with scissors.

Illustration by Robyn Phelps / Shutterstock / The Current

A trial to determine remedies in the Google ad tech antitrust case begins Monday, and it could reshape the digital advertising ecosystem.

The two-week hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia comes five months after a federal judge ruled Google was a monopolist in two open-web display ad tech product markets.

Now, lawyers for both Google and the DOJ will present their cases to Judge Leonie Brinkema, who will determine what remedies will be imposed to restore competition in these markets.

Here’s what advertisers should know ahead of this week’s trial.

Why the judge ruled Google a monopoly in ad tech

First, let’s revisit the April monopoly ruling.

Brinkema found that Google illegally maintained a monopoly over the open-web display publisher ad server market and the open-web display ad exchange market, in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.

Further, Brinkema found that Google unlawfully tied together its publisher ad server, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), to its ad exchange, AdX, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.

In the 115-page decision, Brinkema wrote that Google maintained its monopoly by “imposing anticompetitive policies on its customers and eliminating desirable product features.”

How the ad tech markets are defined

The DOJ had successfully argued that the open-web display publisher ad server and ad exchange markets are distinct markets that aren’t interchangeable with other ad tech tools.

So, what exactly are they?

Publisher ad servers, Brinkema wrote, “help publishers manage and monetize their web ad inventory” by “offering a number of unique product features to publishers, such as allocating ad inventory between direct sales and programmatic sales.”

Ad exchanges, meanwhile, “play a distinct role in the open-web display ad tech stack by connecting publishers using publisher ad servers with advertisers using programmatic buying tools such as demand-side platforms and ad networks.”

What both sides are proposing

The DOJ is asking the court to order Google to divest AdX, separate and provide an open-source license for DFP’s auction logic; implement certain API-based interoperability; and refrain from engaging in certain self-preferential and discriminatory behavior in the auction process.

The DOJ has also requested the ability to seek a full divestiture of DFP in the event it is later determined that its other proposed remedies have not sufficiently restored competition.

Google, though, proposed other remedies, including making real-time bids from AdX for open-web display ads available to competing publisher ad servers exchanges placing Prebid in between AdX and DFP; agreeing not to reimplement the use of First Look and Last Look, which gave AdX an advantage in auctions; and deprecating and not reimplementing Unified Pricing Rules in DFP for open-web display ads.

Who the witnesses are in the remedies trial

The DOJ and Google both submitted witness lists for the remedies phase last month that include a who’s who of industry heavyweights.

Here’s who appears on both lists, excluding Google’s extended list of those they would call on “if the need arises”:

  • Heather Adkins, vice president of security engineering, Google
  • James Avery, founder and CEO, Kevel
  • Glenn Berntson, director, Google
  • Andrew Casale, president and CEO, Index Exchange
  • Jed Dederick, CRO, The Trade Desk
  • Sam Greenfield, senior software engineer, Google
  • Nirmal Jayaram, senior director of engineering, Google
  • Luke Lambert, head of reputation marketing and insights, Omnicom Media Group
  • George Levitte, director of product management, Google
  • Michael Racic, president, Prebid
  • Bryan Rubin, director of corporate development, Google
  • Scott Sheffer, vice president of partnerships, Google

What could come after the remedies hearing

Google has said it would appeal the monopoly ruling, but it can’t until after the remedies phase has concluded.

For reference, a decision in the Google search antitrust case came four months after the remedies trial wrapped.

Meanwhile, Google is facing pressure on its ad tech business elsewhere too. Three supply-side platforms (SSPs) — Magnite, PubMatic and OpenX — have sued the company for anticompetitive practices in digital advertising. And, this month, the European Commission fined Google for violating EU antitrust rules “by distorting competition in the advertising technology industry.”

Most recently, Bloomberg and Reuters reported that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Google and Amazon misled advertisers on terms and pricing for search ads.

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk, Inc.