A former advertising tech executive at News Corp. testified that the company considered moving away from Google's ad products in 2017 but ultimately abandoned the idea due to the potential loss of revenue of at least $9 million. The testimony came on the second day of the latest antitrust trial investigating Google's dominance of the internet.
of New York Post Reports On the second day of the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google, former News Corp. ad tech executive Stephanie Lazer took the stand to expose the tech giant's dominance in the digital advertising market. Lazer, who worked at News Corp from 2017 to 2022, said that despite finding Google's ad tools “clunky and slow” and the company's reluctance to add new features, News Corp felt compelled to continue using the company's services because of Google's market dominance.
Mr. Lazer's testimony highlighted the extent to which Google has control over the digital advertising industry. “It felt like they were holding us hostage,” the former executive said. He explained that Google's ad trading was effectively the only service publishers used to trade ads, leaving companies like News Corp. with little choice.
According to court documents, News Corp made $83.3 million in profits from ads sold through its digital ad tech tools in 2016, much of it through Google's ad exchange, which generated $18.4 million in revenue from advertisers who worked on the platform. In exploring the possibility of leaving the Google ecosystem, News Corp estimated that about half of the $18.4 million came from advertisers who were exclusive to Google's network, meaning the news giant would lose more than $9 million if it stopped using Google's services.
The reliance on Google's tools has only grown over time, with Lazer revealing that 70-80% of News Corp's ad transactions will have been conducted through Google tools by the end of his term in 2022. The testimony highlights the challenges facing publishers and advertisers looking to diversify their advertising strategies away from the Google ecosystem.
The Justice Department's lawsuit against Google alleges that the tech giant maintains a “trinity monopoly” by controlling the advertising tools used by both publishers and advertisers and the ad exchanges that connect the two. The Justice Department alleges that Google uses this dominance to capture up to 35 cents of every dollar that passes through its system.
Google's lawyers, led by Karen Dunn, an adviser to Sen. Kamala Harris, argue that the Justice Department's charges are based on a flawed understanding of the digital advertising market and that government intervention could cause significant harm to companies that rely on Google's services.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema is presiding over the case, which is expected to last about four weeks. The Justice Department is seeking the dismantling of Google's ad tech empire, specifically the sale of its Ad Manager tool, in order to promote competition and fairness in the digital advertising market.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship.
