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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Michael Liedtke

Google's digital ad network declared an illegal monopoly, joining its search engine in penalty box

Google-Antitrust Advertising - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Google has been branded an abusive monopolist by a federal judge for the second time in less than a year, this time for illegally exploiting some of its online marketing technology to boost the profits fueling an internet empire currently worth $1.8 trillion.

The ruling issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia comes on the heels of a separate decision in August that concluded Google’s namesake search engine has been illegally leveraging its dominance to stifle competition and innovation.

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