India, April 17 -- A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that Google unlawfully maintained monopoly power in its $31 billion digital advertising business, handing the U.S. Department of Justice a major victory in its sweeping antitrust campaign against the tech giant.
In a 115-page decision issued Thursday, Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia concluded that Google's practice of linking its ad server with its publisher ad exchange enabled the company to suppress competition, inflate costs, and undermine the open web. She found that this conduct significantly harmed publishers, the broader digital advertising ecosystem, and ultimately, consumers.
The ruling marks the second major legal setba...