It is easy to view the US government’s latest legal challenge to the power of Big Tech as a case of too little, too late. Years of almost negligent disregard from the trustbusters has allowed a handful of companies to entrench themselves in the booming digital markets. But as another lawsuit from Washington lands, there is a sense that something significant is shifting, and that even relatively small victories could go a long way.
The new case from the Department of Justice accuses Google of playing all sides of the market to its own advantage when it comes to arranging ad sales on behalf of other websites. Google supplies the software used by many publishers and advertisers, while also owning the exchange in the middle where their orders to buy and sell ad inventory are matched.
It used that power to direct orders to its exchange and influence pricing, according to the DoJ. In the words of one Google executive quoted in the lawsuit, it is as if “Goldman or Citibank owned the NYSE”. The US government asked the court to force the company to spin off parts of its advertising technology, including DoubleClick, a company it acquired 15 years ago.