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Justice Department alleges Google stymied competition in

online

ad tech

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Google denies allegations, citing competition in apps and

connected TV

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Trial to feature witnesses from Google, competitors and

publishers

By Jody Godoy

Sept 9 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google will face

U.S. antitrust prosecutors on Monday in Alexandria, Virginia,

where the Justice Department will seek to show the company

stifled competition in online advertising technology, in the

search giant's second recent showdown with the Justice

Department.

Prosecutors say Google has largely dominated the technological

infrastructure that funds the flow of news and information on

websites through more than 150,000 online ad sales every

second.

The case is an important one for efforts by U.S. antitrust

enforcers to challenge alleged Big Tech monopolies, which have

spanned the administrations of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Prosecutors say Google engaged in a complex scheme to

dominate website advertising tools, through acquisitions,

restrictions on how customers can use its tools and alleged

manipulation of ad auctions.

Google denies the allegations, saying they misconstrue

lawful efforts to develop its technology and serve its own

customers. Prosecutors overlook how the digital advertising

market has shifted to apps and connected TV, where Google faces

stiff competition, the company has said.

If U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema finds that Google

broke the law, she would later consider prosecutors' request to

make Google sell off, at minimum, Google Ad Manager, a platform

that includes Google's publisher ad server and its ad exchange.

According to research by stock analyst Wedbush, Google's ad

tech tools accounted for $20 billion, or 11% of the company's

gross revenue in 2020 and around $1 billion, or 2.6%, of

operating profit that year.

Ad Manager represented 4.1% of revenue and 1.5% of operating

profit in 2020, according to Wedbush research and analysis of

court documents.

More recent figures were redacted from court documents.

Google's defense team is led by Karen Dunn, a partner at the law

firm Paul, Weiss, who has guided debate preparations for several

prominent Democrats including Vice President Kamala Harris.

The government's legal team is headed by Julia Tarver Wood,

a veteran trial lawyer who joined the Justice Department last

year. She previously worked at Paul, Weiss where she represented

companies including insurer American International Group ( AIG )

, Mastercard ( MA ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN ).

The multiweek trial is expected to feature witnesses from

Google and competitors in the digital advertising space such as

the Trade Desk ( TTD ), and Comcast ( CMCSA ) as well as

publishers including News Corp ( NWSA ) and Gannett ( GCI ), who

prosecutors say were harmed through Google's conduct.

The case is one of several challenging alleged Big Tech

monopolies.

The Justice Department won a ruling against Google last month in

another case over its dominance in online search, and is

separately suing Apple ( AAPL ). The U.S. Federal Trade

Commission is pursuing cases against Facebook parent Meta

Platforms ( META ) and Amazon ( AMZN ).