Google Exec Admitted Firm’s Goal Was to “Crush” Digital Ad Rivals, According to Court Docs

Google’s antitrust troubles intensified this week as court documents revealed that a top executive had admitted the company’s strategy was to “crush” its digital advertising competitors. The revelation came to light during a landmark antitrust trial in which the Department of Justice (DOJ) has accused Google of abusing its dominance in the online ad market.

According to documents presented in court, David Rosenblatt, Google’s former president of display advertising, boasted in 2009 that Google’s goal was to dominate the digital ad space. “We’ll be able to crush the other networks and that’s our goal,” Rosenblatt wrote, per New York Post. This evidence was introduced by the DOJ as part of its broader claim that Google has created a monopoly over digital ad tools, extracting significant revenue from publishers and advertisers.

The trial, which has drawn significant attention due to its potential ramifications for the tech industry, centers on accusations that Google controls a “trifecta of monopolies.” The government argues that Google has monopolized key tools on both the buy and sell sides of digital ad transactions and controls the marketplace that connects advertisers to businesses. According to the DOJ’s complaint, Google is siphoning off more than a third of every dollar spent through its ad platforms.

As New York Post reports, Rosenblatt joined Google after its acquisition of DoubleClick, a digital ad software company that has since become a focal point of controversy. His comments, which were made in internal notes, pointed to Google’s growing influence, stating that it had effectively become both “Goldman and NYSE”—a reference to the company’s control of both the financial tools and the marketplace in digital advertising. Rosenblatt claimed that Google aimed to replicate its dominance in search within the display advertising market.

Related: News Corp Faced Millions in Losses by Moving Away from Google Ads, Ex-Executive Testifies

The former Google executive also acknowledged the difficulty publishers faced in switching to competing ad platforms, describing it as a “nightmare” and stating it would “take an act of God” to achieve.

The trial’s third day saw testimony from another former Google executive, Brad Bender, who confirmed that he had circulated Rosenblatt’s notes to his team, calling them a “worthwhile read.” These internal exchanges have added weight to the DOJ’s argument that Google systematically sought to entrench itself at the expense of competition.

Google’s advertising business remains the company’s largest revenue driver, pulling in over $307 billion in 2023 alone. The DOJ, however, is seeking to dismantle parts of this empire, including forcing Google to divest its Ad Manager product, which plays a central role in its adtech dominance.

US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is presiding over the trial, has been critical of Google in the lead-up to the case. During pre-trial hearings, she chastised the company for automatically deleting employee chat records that should have been preserved as evidence.

The trial, which is taking place at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, has become a significant flashpoint in the broader debate over Big Tech’s role in controlling key markets. With potential outcomes ranging from fines to the forced breakup of Google’s adtech business, the case could reshape the future of digital advertising and competition in the tech industry.

According to New York Post, this is just the beginning of what could be a lengthy and high-stakes battle over Google’s dominance in the market.

Source: New York Post