ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Sept 10 (Reuters) - News Corp ( NWSA )

explored switching away from Google's advertising tools in 2017

but estimated that doing so would lose the Wall Street Journal

publisher at least $9 million in ad revenue, a former executive

testified on Tuesday at Google's antitrust trial in Virginia.

Google frustrated publishers by introducing features that

benefited itself more than them, said Stephanie Layser, who

worked in advertising technology at News Corp ( NWSA ) from 2017 to 2022.

Despite those concerns, almost no one in the publishing industry

used anything else, because Google's publisher ad server is tied

to Google's ad exchange, she said.

"I felt like they were holding us hostage," Layser said on

the stand.

She testified on the second day of what is expected to be a

multi-week trial in which the U.S. Department of Justice will

seek to show that Google monopolized markets for publisher ad

servers, advertiser ad networks and the ad exchanges that

connect the two.

NewsCorp documents shown at trial estimated that in 2016,

the publisher made $83.3 million from ads sold instantaneously

through ad tech tools. More than half of those transactions went

through Google's ad exchange, with $18.4 million from Google ads

advertisers.

The publisher estimated that around half of that, or $9

million, was exclusive to Google and would be lost in any shift

to another product.

By the time she left, around 70-80% of News Corp ( NWSA ) ad

transactions flowed through Google's ad exchange, Layser said.

Google has said that the case is based on an outdated look

at the industry, and that large publishers use an average of six

different platforms to sell ads that there are more than 80 such

services.

At trial, prosecutors are seeking to show Google used

dominant positions in technology for publishers and advertisers

to keep them from using other tools and undercut bids placed

through competitors' products.

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

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

Google at least sell off Google Ad Manager, a platform that

includes the company's publisher ad server and its ad exchange.