Is Google just too good at what it does—or is it playing dirty behind the scenes?
A U.S. judge has just dropped the gavel on one of the world’s biggest tech titans.
Google has been illegally flexing its muscles in the online ad space.
The Department of Justice, along with 17 states, argued that Google’s grip on digital advertising went far beyond healthy competition.
In their view, it amounted to monopoly-level manipulation.
Judge Leonie Brinkema said Google had “wilfully” crushed competition.
She added that the tech giant hurt publishers, warped the market, and left consumers worse off.
This marks Google’s second antitrust loss in a year—the first was for monopolizing online search. Yikes.
What’s Happening?
Google’s not backing down, though. “We won half the case and we’re appealing the rest,” said Lee-Ann Mulholland, the company’s regulatory lead.
She insists publishers choose Google because it works—not because they’re forced to.
Still, experts say this could shake up how tech giants operate.
“It signals that judges aren’t afraid to call out Big Tech,” said law professor Laura Phillips-Sawyer.
Will this lead to a breakup of Alphabet?
The next phase—remedies—could be even more explosive.
For now, Google might still be king, but the empire’s definitely under fire.
