More than twenty years after the showdown between the US state and Microsoft, another tech giant is in Uncle Sam's sights. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and eight states filed a complaint against Google for abuse of a monopolistic position in the online advertising market.

Lawsuits that promise to be "complicated to win," said David Balto, a lawyer specializing in antitrust cases who spent nine years at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the competition policeman, in the 1990s.

Does the US state have a solid case?

These are lawsuits that will be difficult to win, in particular because they ask for the dismantling of Google's advertising platform, which is an extraordinary measure.

According to antitrust laws, it is not enough to prove that a company is in a monopoly situation.

The central question is: "Has the public been directly harmed by Google's actions".

In the advertising market, it's hard to prove, especially with a free search engine.

For what reasons ?

In online advertising, it is primarily advertisers and publishers who suffer, not the public.

Antitrust laws are primarily there to protect consumers.

We are here in what is called a

two-sided market

, a two-sided market.

In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of American Express over higher merchant transaction fees, noting that customers receive benefits on their card.

The duopoly of Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Facebook) on online advertising is crumbling, from nearly two-thirds of the market to less than 50% today.

Does this help Google?

Yes.

Technically, the complaint relates to the last 15 years.

But Google's lawyers will be able to argue that the market is changing very quickly with new entrants, and that it is more competitive.

The FTC had given the green light to the takeover of the advertising agency DoubleClick by Google, and those of Instagram and What'sApp by Facebook.

Was it a mistake?

There is no limitation period for initiating proceedings after an acquisition.

But the FTC's decision that the takeover was unlikely to have anti-competitive consequences at the time poses an additional problem for the Justice Department.

What lessons can we draw from the Microsoft trial?

At first instance, the judge ruled in favor of the government and ordered the dismantling of Microsoft into two entities (one Windows and another for software).

But the decision was overturned on appeal.

Notably because dismantling can only be a last resort punishment.

It must be proven that all other measures to try to stop the abuse have failed.



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