Google is facing an upcoming antitrust trial, and it appears the company is trying to dismiss testimony from key members of the adtech industry.
This antitrust case could potentially be the largest and most landmark one Google could face, as Mountain View will defend its ad tech business against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
One of Google's first arguments is that a large number of government witnesses should be excluded from the trial. Google has asked the court to exclude all testimony from anyone who is not an economist or antitrust expert. Google reportedly claims that witnesses from third-party competitors do not have the necessary knowledge base or expertise to know whether Google is a monopolist and whether it harms competition. The Justice Department reportedly argued that the witnesses Google objected to are Google's competitors.
Leonie Brinkema is the judge who will preside over the second round of the US vs. Google LLC antitrust case. She is tasked with deciding whether to accept Google's arguments and reject the above-mentioned witness testimony. Google has reportedly stated that third-party experience in the industry does not qualify them to draw conclusions about monopolistic or anti-competitive practices.
Most of the statements mentioned come from people connected to the ad tech business. Google's ad tech business, Google AdX, is one of the largest in the world, and many third-party ad exchanges have to compete with Google.
The Justice Department stated that AdX is the delivery point for the largest source of demand in the display business and that ad exchanges therefore cannot advise their customers to avoid Google AdX.
In my opinion, Google's attempt to exclude testimony from industry experts in the upcoming antitrust case raises transparency concerns. While it is understandable that Google would only want qualified experts to testify, excluding experts with practical experience in the adtech industry could prevent valuable insights from being heard in court.
In my view, this move could make it more difficult for the Court to fully understand the practical effects of Google’s ad tech practices on competition.