A federal judge ruled Thursday that Google operates illegal monopolies in two separate markets related to digital advertising technology.
The bomb ruling by US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in the Federal Court of Virginia has found that Google violated the Sherman Act by controlling the online publisher ad server market and the ad exchange market that connects ad buyers with sellers.
“Google has further cemented its monopoly by imposing anti-competitive practices on its customers and removing desirable product features,” writes Brinkema.
“In addition to robbing rivals of their ability to compete, this exclusive act significantly harmed the customers of Google’s publishers, their competitive processes and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web,” the judge added.
Shares in Google Parent Alphabet were 1.2% off at $153.64 in trading Thursday morning.
The Justice Department argues that courts should force Google to sell digital advertising products, particularly Google Ad Manager, which includes both publisher ad servers and ad exchanges.
A second trial phase will be held to “determine the appropriate remedies” to tackle Google’s monopoly.
This ruling is another major legal blow for Google. Last year, a federal judge ruled in another case that Google had an illegal monopoly over the online search market.
The relief phase of that trial is scheduled to begin Monday, with prosecutors seeking forced sales of Chrome web browsers, among other modifications.
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