Is Google’s dominance an “illegal monopolisation” of the digital advertising market?

Can the DoJ right the wrong of the FTC’s 2007 decision?

In 2007, Google bought a digital advertising business called DoubleClick. It was/is the technology solution that inserts adverts into webpages that are individually targeted for the reader. The acquisition caused a lot of concern at the time that DoubleClick would give Google the ability to control both sides of the digital ad market. This was because Google had already established momentum as the number 1 Search engine.

By buying DoubleClick, Google would have the ability to both know what you were interested in (from your search history) and which ads to serve you (because that’s what DoubleClick did/does.) It was an acquisition that drew the scrutiny of privacy groups, warning of Google’s unparalleled access to data about Internet users, as well as competition regulators, namely the FTC.

The Federal Trade Commission in the USA government agency that oversees competition, mergers and acquisitions. The FTC reviewed Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick and ruled four to one in favour of allowing it to go ahead. The FTC believed that a competitor would emerge to prevent Google from dominating the digital ad market.