Google pushes back on monopoly claims in DOJ ad tech trial

The news: Google is pushing back against claims that it runs a monopoly in its second trial with the Justice Department this year. In a filing this week, the company argued that its ad tech isn’t monopolistic because publishers are free to sell ad space using platforms other than its own Ad Exchange (AdX).

• Google maintains that publishers have the flexibility to integrate Google Ad Manager (GAM) with other ad tech services, claiming that publishers can use GAM with non-Google platforms, such as Amazon’s header-bidding system or Open Bidding, which links to over 100 competing exchanges.
• Google argues that GAM can function independently of AdX, and publishers can technically choose not to use AdX with GAM.