Federal judge rules in Attorney General Phil Weiser’s favor in Google digital advertising monopoly lawsuit
April 17, 2025 (DENVER) – Attorney General Phil Weiser today announced a major court victory after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found that Google has violated the law by maintaining illegal monopolies in the digital advertising technology industry (PDF download), stifling competition and harming website publishers, advertisers, and consumers. Weiser was part of a coalition of seventeen attorneys general joining the U.S. Department of Justice to sue Google in 2023, seeking to stop Google’s anticompetitive conduct that has controlled the online advertising industry.
“We brought this case to address Google’s monopoly tactics in the ad tech market,” said Weiser. “The company’s anticompetitive actions in this market allowed them to charge higher fees on transactions than would-be competitors, caused website publishers to make less advertising revenue, and forced advertisers to pay more for ad placement. The court’s ruling promises to unwind Google’s monopoly and restore competition to the digital advertising business. By taking action against Google’s monopoly, which has led to higher prices and stifled innovation, consumers will benefit.”
In January 2023, Weiser and the coalition of attorneys general, along with the DOJ, sued Google (opens new window) for harming competition in the advertising technology industry. The lawsuit alleged Google’s market power allows it to control nearly every aspect of online ad sales, allowing it to extract higher fees from advertisers while paying lower amounts to publishers for their ad space. This conduct hurts consumers and web publishers by, among other things, making it harder for websites to make money on their advertising inventory, preventing them from offering internet users content for free, without subscriptions, paywalls, or alternative forms of monetization.
Today’s decision, issued by Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia, found Google liable for violating antitrust law by acquiring and maintaining monopolies in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising. The judge also found Google liable for unlawfully tying together its publisher ad server and its ad exchange and that Google harmed competition, its own customers, and Internet users by imposing anticompetitive policies that reduced quality and increased prices.
A second phase of the trial to determine remedies for Google’s conduct will take place at a later date.
Joining Weiser in the lawsuit, along with DOJ, were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.
###