Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) says it plans to appeal the latest court ruling that found the company has a “monopoly” in online search and related advertising.
In the American Department of Justice’s ongoing monopoly case against the technology giant, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google is liable for “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges.
The ruling threatens Google’s lucrative online advertising business that is connected to its search engine.
That advertising business generated $273.37 billion U.S. for Alphabet in 2024, up 15% from the previous year.
Publisher advertising servers allow news outlets and other content providers to make money by selling online advertisements.
The judge in the case also ruled that Google illegally dominates the market for online advertising technology.
In announcing its intention to appeal the court ruling, Alphabet said that the judge in the case issued a “mixed decision.”
Alphabet says the judge found that the Department of Justice failed to show Google’s advertiser tools or acquisitions of DoubleClick and AdMeld were anticompetitive but ruled that Google’s publisher tools violated antitrust laws by excluding competitors.
The U.S. Justice Department is calling for Alphabet to divest its “Google Ad Manager,” which includes the company’s publisher ad server and ad exchange technology and tools.
Alphabet is resisting such a sale, saying it will irrevocably harm its business.
Analysts who cover the company and tech sector remain cautiously optimistic that there will be a lengthy appeals process that may reverse some of Judge Brinkema’s findings.
The stock of Alphabet has declined 20% so far in 2025 to trade at $151.22 U.S. per share.