"Information Asymmetries. Because Google’s ad tech products face little or no
meaningful competition, Google has been able to operate its products within a black box,
affording publishers and advertisers limited visibility into how, why, and even at what price,
website advertising inventory is sold. One industry report suggests that approximately 15% of all
digital advertising spend is simply unaccounted for, with publishers and advertisers unable to
determine which intermediary may have siphoned this spend off for its own gain. Reduced
transparency diminishes the ability of publishers and advertisers to make informed choices in
selecting their ad tech products and hampers their ability (and rivals’ as well) to serve as a
competitive constraint."
Too bad the DOJ attorney does not "grill" over that. Instead, quote the Reuters article
> Dahlquist asked Juda if they had introduced changes to ad sales in a way that raised the cost-per-click by a consumer that advertisers pay. "I believe that's fair," said Juda.
> But Wendy Waszmer, a lawyer for Google, asked Juda on Wednesday afternoon on if there were ways that his ads quality team could raise prices unilaterally. "No," Juda responded.
You can read the full lawsuit here: https://www.justice.gov/d9/case-documents/attachments/2023/0...