Alphabet, the parent company of Google, asked a federal judge in the United States on Monday to dismiss a Justice Department lawsuit alleging that the search giant illegally abused its dominance in online advertising.
The government, along with eight states, filed the ad tech lawsuit in January, arguing that Google should be forced to sell its ad manager suite. Google has categorically denied any wrongdoing.
“In the more than three years that it has been investigating Google’s ad tech business, the United States has received more than two million documents from Google and taken over thirty depositions of Google witnesses,” the company said in a late Monday court filing.
Google argued that the case should be dismissed because the government misdefined the online advertising market and improperly excluded powerful competitors like Facebook.
It also stated that the government’s estimate of Google’s ad exchange having “more than 50%” market share fell short of the 70% required to claim market power.
The company also stated that the government was incorrect in claiming that Google’s acquisitions of DoubleClick and AdMeld, both of which occurred more than a decade ago, harmed competition. Both transactions were approved by antitrust authorities at the time.
Google requested a hearing on the motion to dismiss.
The case is being heard in the Eastern District of Virginia by U.S. Judge Leonie Brinkema.
The Justice Department’s ad tech lawsuit follows a separate lawsuit filed in 2020, near the end of the Trump administration, in which Google was accused of violating antitrust law in order to maintain its search dominance. In September, the case will go to trial.
The Biden administration has attempted to increase antitrust enforcement. Along with the Google suit, it faces a slew of merger hurdles.
