Judge sides with online publishers in Google ad tech antitrust case

Source: USA Today

Oct. 28, 2025, 6:18 p.m. ET


A New York federal judge ruled in favor of online news publishers and advertisers who allege Google unlawfully monopolized the digital advertising market and diverted revenue that would have otherwise gone to news operations.

U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel granted partial summary judgement for Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper chain and owner of USA TODAY, the Daily Mail and digital media company Inform, holding Google liable for illegally monopolizing its advertising placement technology business.

In a complaint filed in 2023, Gannett and the other plaintiffs accused Google of violating federal antitrust laws by abusing its dominant position to control and profit from the technology used by publishers to buy and sell ads across the internet. In his ruling, Castel pointed to the findings in the Justice Department’s antitrust trial against Google in Northern Virginia earlier this year.

U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled in April that Google acted illegally to maintain its monopoly over some of the automated systems that place ads on the internet, allowing the company to command higher prices and collect a bigger share of each sale.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/10/28/google-antitrust-ruling-advertising-technology/86950042007/