Former News Corp executive testifies in Google ad antitrust trial that Google held ad deals hostage
The US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Google for violating antitrust laws, claiming that the company is 'illegally monopolizing the advertising technology market,' and the trial is scheduled to begin on September 9, 2024. It has been reported that a former News Corp executive who was called as a prosecution witness in the trial testified that 'it felt as if Google was holding our advertising transactions hostage.'
News Corp would have lost $9 million in 2017 by ditching Google ads, ex-exec testifies | Reuters
Google dominates online ads, says antitrust trial witness, but publishers are feeling 'stuck' - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/11/24241386/former-news-corp-executive-google-doj-ad-tech-trial
The DOJ vs. Google, Day Two: Tales From The Underbelly Of Ad Tech | AdExchanger
https://www.adexchanger.com/antitrust/the-doj-vs-google-day-two-tales-from-the-underbelly-of-ad-tech/
The Department of Justice alleges that Google's use of its advertising technology tools, including Google Ad Exchange (AdX) and Google Ad Manager, to connect advertisers and publishers, has enabled it to dominate the market and stifle competition.
The US Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit against Google's advertising business is scheduled to begin on September 9, 2024 - GIGAZINE
Google Ad Manager is a tool for publishers to manage, deliver and track ads, and was originally known as 'DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP)' by DoubleClock, an advertising technology company founded in 1996. However, DoubleClick was acquired by Google for $3.1 billion (approximately 330 billion yen at the time) in 2007, and Google discontinued the DoubleClick brand in 2018, so DFP was renamed 'Google Ad Manager'.
Stephanie Lazer, a former News Corp programmatic advertising executive who now works for Amazon Web Services, testified for the Department of Justice, saying, 'Most publishers use Google Ad Manager, but the result is that the only tools publisher professionals have used throughout their careers are made by Google.'
In addition, Lazer described Google Ad Manager as 'slow and cumbersome, using technology that is 25 to 30 years old. ' In addition, Google did not provide log-level data that recorded ad timestamps, placement locations, bid and winning amounts, advertiser information, etc., and testified that the limitations of Google Ad Manager prevented projects from maximizing revenue.
Specifically, Lazer was referring to the Uniform Pricing Rules (UPR), which Google introduced in 2019. Prior to the UPR, publishers were able to set different floor prices for different ad exchanges, with Google's AdX being able to set a higher floor price than other exchanges.
However, with the introduction of the UPR, publishers were required to set the same floor price across all ad exchanges and could no longer set a higher floor price on AdX than on others, although they could still set different floor prices for other exchanges within their own systems.
Lazer, who strongly opposed the introduction of UPR, arranged a meeting with Google executives and argued that the introduction of UPR was in Google's best interest, not in the best interest of its customers. However, UPR was introduced anyway.
But because they had no choice but to use Google Ad Manager to access Google's massive advertiser base with real-time pricing, switching to other tools was not a realistic option, according to Lazer.
According to News Corp documents submitted at trial, News Corp estimated that it earned $83.8 million in revenue from ads sold through Google Ad Manager in 2016. More than half of those transactions were made through AdX, of which $18.4 million was from Google advertisers. News Corp estimated that half of that, or $9 million, was Google-exclusive and would be lost if it switched from Google Ad Manager to another tool. Reiser testified that by the time he left the company, about 70-80% of News Corp's advertising transactions were going through AdX, commenting, 'It was like we were being held hostage.'
In cross-examination, Google's lawyers noted that News Corp recognized it competed with Google in some areas, and that its analysis when considering switching to other tools showed that News Corp's interests were likely not aligned in the long term because Google owned the media business.
The prosecution is seeking to sell Google's Publisher Ad Server and Google Ad Manager, and the trial is expected to last several weeks. In addition to Lazer, the witness list includes more than 20 people, including former and current Google employees and executives.
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