A U.S. federal judge ruled Thursday that Google holds an illegal monopoly in two online advertising markets — the latest in a series of blows by Washington against the trillion-dollar tech giant.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema wrote that Google violated U.S. antitrust law by “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” over web advertising. Brinkema said Google illegally tied together its products to maintain its monopoly.
The ruling represents Google’s second major antitrust loss in less than a year. In August, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that the search giant illegally monopolized the online search and advertising markets over the prior decade.
