Google witnesses predict tough times for publishers if judge divests advertising arm

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CN) — Proposals by the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at divesting Google of key ad tech products could also harm publishers, slowing ads and driving off users, an executive for the tech giant testified Monday.

If the Justice Department is successful, consequences will reach beyond financial ramifications for Google: “There is the potential for ads to load more slowly or for pages to load more slowly,” testified Scott Sheffer, Google’s  vice president of partnerships.

Frustrated readers may not return to a website. In turn, publishers could experience a drop in readership and a decrease in revenue, he said.

Sheffer, the first witness called by Google’s lead attorney Karen Dunn, testified that the company helps publishers earn revenue through partnerships — a sharp contrast to rival tech executives who testified Google’s dominance and ad tech policies skew the market.

Another witness disputed testimony from Goranka Bjedov, a former Google engineer called by Justice Department lawyers, who claimed Google’s ad products could be transitioned within two years without disrupting the market.

“This is a really pretty picture that somebody put together that doesn’t know the system,” said Glenn Berntson, a Google engineering director. He described the company’s ad tech as highly complex, handling eight million ad requests per second and serving 110,000 publishers worldwide. The idea that such a system could be quickly migrated was “completely unrealistic,” he said.

Justice Department attorneys, led by Julia Tarver Wood, rested their case against Google on Monday.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, a Bill Clinton appointee, convicted Google in April of running part of its ad tech business as a monopoly. Her ruling followed a 2024 trial where the Justice Department accused the company of a systematic campaign to dominate digital advertising tools.

During this trial, she is considering proposed remedies to punish Google and restore the competitive process.

The Justice Department is pushing for the breakup of Google’s ad business, a move that could mean the dissolution of Google LLC. The ad products at stake are the company’s largest moneymakers, generating billions of dollars annually.

In the trial’s first week, Justice Department attorneys questioned witnesses who repeated familiar complaints: Google’s aggressive tactics have kept some startups from thriving, left others gasping for air, and driven some out of business entirely.

Internal discussions at Google years ago explored divesting parts of the ad tech unit, although the company’s idea was more nuanced, involving giving other companies access to a reference code or manual. By contrast, the DOJ seeks the full transfer of Google’s ad program code to another firm, accompanied by a 10-year ban on re-entry into the market.

Toward the end of Monday’s testimony, Berntson also indicated that the tech giant would become more accommodating with its proposals. He will be questioned again tomorrow.