In the test, Google will paint this question as a serious over -range, claiming that few or no companies would have the means to buy and run the products. Last year an advertising adviser estimated that the advertisement -empire from Google could be worth $ 95 billion, perhaps too large to sell. However, Google was skeptical about Chrome in the same way, and representatives from other companies said during the test process that they would like to buy Google's browser.
A tough battle
After losing three antitrust cases in just a few years, Google will have a hard time convincing the judge that it is able to turn a new magazine with light remedies. A DOJ lawyer said that the Google Court is a “recidivist monopolist” who has a pattern to plant its legal obligations. Yet Google is looking for grace in the business. We expect to get more details about the proposed remedies of Google as the next test, but it already offered a preview in today's hearing.
Google proposes to make a smaller subset of advertising data available and to terminate the use of some price schedules, including uniform prices, that the Court of Hiervaig has found. Google also promised not to implement that stopped practices such as “last look”, which gave the company the chance to surpass rivals at the last minute. This became prominent in the case of the Doj, although Google ended the practice a few years ago.
To ensure that it adheres to the remedies, Google suggested that a monitor appointed by the court would check the trial. However, Brinkema did not seem to be impressed by this proposal.
Just like in his other cases, Google says that it intends to appeal against the verdict, but before it is possible, the remedies phase must be completed. Even if it can be paused the remedies for appeal, the decision can be a blow to the trust of investors. So Google will do what it is possible to avoid the worst-case scenario, leaning on the existence of competing advertisers such as Meta and Tiktok to show that the market is still competitive.
Just like the search case, Google is not confronted with major developments in the summer, but this fall can be rough. Judge Amit Mehta will most likely reign about the search options in August, and the case for advertising chesses will start the following month. Google also has the Play Store case hanging over its head. It lost the first round, but the company hopes to prevail on appeal when the case starts again, probably at the end of 2025.
