Serendipity35

I was working last week on a post about the early days of Facebook when the news hit that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg were testifying in an ongoing antitrust trial examining whether Meta monopolized the personal social networking market by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014. (see https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/04/17/metas-antitrust-trial...)

Then, I was diverted by another news story about a federal judge who ruled that Google violated antitrust laws by unlawfully dominating the online advertising market with its technology. The decision opens the door for U.S. prosecutors to seek a breakup of the tech giant’s $1.8 trillion ad-tech business.

The court found that Google monopolized two key segments of the digital advertising ecosystem: tools used by publishers to manage ad space, and the platform that connects those publishers with advertisers. By tying the two products together, Google made it difficult for competitors to gain traction. A second hearing will determine what steps the company must take to restore competition.

The ruling follows a separate decision in August, in which another judge found that Google had illegally dominated the markets for online search and text advertising. Remedies in that case are still pending, though the government has proposed that Google divest its Chrome web browser.

• Google’s digital ad network declared an illegal monopoly, joining its search engine in penalty box
• Google, explained: Here’s how it captures the online ad industry