MOUNTAIN VIEW, Nov 21 — Alphabet's Google will make its final plea to avoid a breakup of its advertising technology business in a United States (US) court on Friday, as the Department of Justice's antitrust case draws to a close.
It has so far come away largely unscathed from a bipartisan government-led crackdown on Big Tech's dominance, a push that began during the first term of President Donald Trump.
But that could change, depending on what US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, decides.
In April, she ruled that Google holds two illegal ad tech monopolies and is now considering what the company must do to restore competition. The DOJ and a coalition of states have asked the judge to order Google to sell its ad exchange, AdX, where online publishers pay Google a 20 per cent fee to sell ads in auctions that occur instantly when users load websites.
At an 11-day trial that began in September, DOJ attorneys sought to convince Judge Brinkema that nothing short of a forced sale would keep Google from developing new tactics to hamper competition.
Google tried to argue that a breakup would be technically difficult, leading to a long, painful transition that would hurt customers.
The closing arguments on Friday mark the end of evidentiary hearings in Google's years-long battle with the DOJ over its dominance in online advertising and search.
Next, the fight will shift to appeals courts, a process that could take years.
Google has said it will appeal Brinkema's monopoly ruling. The company also plans to challenge a ruling issued by a Washington-based judge that it holds illegal monopolies in online search and related advertising.
In that case, Google avoided a forced sale of its Chrome browser but was ordered to share data with competitors.
The US still has antitrust cases pending against Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Apple.
