15 years ago, a Google boss allegedly proposed to "crush" the ad competition

This is what David Rosenblatt, former Google president of display advertising, said in late 2008 or early 2009, according to notes presented in court during Google’s antitrust trial. That's where Google executive revealed that the company's early strategy in its online advertising business was to "crush" rival ad networks.

This statement was brought forward by prosecutors as they argued that Google aimed to monopolize the markets for publisher ad servers and advertiser ad networks, while also trying to dominate ad exchanges.

Prosecutors introduced internal company communications to illustrate how Google employees viewed their products during the period when the government claims Google began its push to dominate the ad tech industry.

Google has denied these accusations, maintaining that it faces significant competition in the digital advertising space. Rosenblatt joined Google in 2008 after it acquired his ad tech company, DoubleClick, and left the following year. In the notes shown in court, Rosenblatt discussed how Google's control over different parts of the advertising ecosystem gave it a competitive edge.

"We're both Goldman and NYSE", he remarked, according to the notes, referencing a major stock exchange and a prominent market maker.

Owning publisher ad servers gave Google's advertiser ad network a "first look" at available ad slots, Rosenblatt explained in the notes. He also noted the difficulty publishers faced in switching platforms, calling it a "nightmare" and saying, "It takes an act of God to do it".

Brad Bender, another former DoubleClick executive who worked at Google until 2022, testified that he had forwarded Rosenblatt’s remarks to his team, describing them as a "worthwhile read".

Google contends that it is not the only company offering an integrated suite of products for advertisers and publishers, noting that Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms also provide similar services.

If US District Judge Leonie Brinkema determines that Google violated the law, she could consider the prosecutors' request to force the company to sell off Google Ad Manager, which includes its publisher ad server and ad exchange.