Justice Department intensifies antitrust probe into Google as investigation ‘zeroes in on company’s online advertising tools’
- DOJ antitrust probe into Google appears to be ramping up significantly
- Several state attorneys general met with Justice officials on Tuesday
- Probe appears to be focusing on the ad tools Google offers online publishers
- Google Ad Manager is the dominant ad server and few publishers can eschew it
The Justice Department antitrust investigation into Google seems to be ramping up with a flurry of activity this week, as the subject of the probe reportedly zeros in on the tech giant’s online advertising tools.
On Tuesday, several state attorneys general investigating Google met with Justice Department officials to coordinate their efforts to probe the search and advertising giant.
The attorneys general of Texas, Utah and Nebraska were among those in attendance. Nearly every state AG in the country is participating in the state-level probe led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
‘We’re working well together and trying to make sure that there aren’t redundancies,’ Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said. ‘We’re hoping to go as quickly as we possible can but I don’t have a specific timetable.’
On Tuesday, several state attorneys general investigating Google met with Justice Department officials to coordinate their efforts on antitrust probes
At the federal level, Google’s ad-tech software appears to be a major focus of the probe, several people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
Virtually all major publishers use Google’s ad server, which connects online publishers to Google’s advertising exchange.
Google’s ad server, DoubleClick for publishers, was integrated into its ad exchange, AdX, in 2018, and re-branded as a single product called Google Ad Manager.
Many publishers and advertising rivals accuse Google of tying its various tools together in anti-competitive ways.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Wednesday morning.
The probe’s increasing focus on ad tools is believed to be the reason that Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the department’s antitrust chief, stepped down from leading the investigation this week.
Delrahim lobbied on Google´s behalf in 2007 when company faced antitrust scrutiny over its acquisition of advertising competitor DoubleClick.
Google parent Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai is seen earlier this month. Virtually all major publishers use Google’s ad server, which connects to Google’s advertising exchange
The Justice department said in late July it was opening a broad antitrust investigation of the big digital firms – Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook. Attorney General Bill Barr has since said he would like the probe completed by the end of the year.
President Donald Trump has criticized the companies and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have called for the break-up of Amazon and Facebook.
Warren has also proposed unwinding the Google-DoubleClick merger.
The Justice Department said in a statement about Tuesday’s meeting that the state officials met with Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, Associate Deputy Attorney General Ryan Shores and officials from the department’s Antitrust Division.
The Justice Department said in a statement the meeting was ‘to continue strengthening their multilateral antitrust law enforcement cooperation concerning technology markets.’
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told reporters, ‘It’s nice to have the cooperation of the Department of Justice.’
The Justice Department and nearly all state attorneys general have opened investigations into allegations that Google has broken antitrust law. The federal probe focuses on search bias, advertising and management of Google’s Android operating system.