The Big Story 

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Google illegally acquired and maintained a monopoly over advertising technology, the second time in less than a year that the tech giant has been found in violation of antitrust laws. 

© Jeff Chiu, Associated Press

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema found that Google has a monopoly over two separate markets in the ad tech space, which helps connect publishers selling ad space online to advertisers.

“Plaintiffs have proven that Google has willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising,” Brinkema wrote Thursday. 

“For over a decade, Google has tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange together through contractual policies and technological integration, which enabled the company to establish and protect its monopoly power in these two markets,” she continued. 

The ruling is another major blow for Google, after a separate federal judge ruled in August that the company had a monopoly over online search.  

Google is set to head to court next week in the search case to argue against the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proposal that it be forced to divest from its Chrome browser. 

The DOJ and Google argued the ad tech case over a span of two weeks in September, just one month after the landmark antitrust ruling against the tech giant. 

The government contended that Google had a monopoly over three distinct markets in the ad tech space: one market for publishers, another market for advertisers and a third to connect the two sides. 

It accused Google of using acquisitions and tying products together to eliminate competition and shore up its dominance over online advertising. 

Google argued there was one, unified market for ad tech that extended beyond online ads to include those on apps, social media and connected television. 

In this market, the tech firm emphasized that it faces competition from Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and TikTok. 

Brinkema largely sided with the DOJ on the layout of markets in the ad tech space, finding a publisher market and an ad exchange market connecting publishers and advertisers. 

Google has a monopoly over both markets, the judge ruled, pointing to the tech giant’s dominance in both. 

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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Crypto Corner 

Coinbase warns of  ‘crypto winter’ amid tariff drama 

© AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Welcome to Crypto Corner, a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

Coinbase, the U.S.’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is warning a “crypto winter” could be coming amid the tariff uncertainty. 

“Several converging signals may be pointing to the start of a new “crypto winter” as some extreme negative sentiment has set in due to the onset of global tariffs and the potential for further escalations,” the exchange wrote in its April Monthly Outlook report this week. 

The exchange revealed the total market cap is currently at $950 billion, marking a 41 percent decline from its December 2024 high of $1.61 trillion. And it’s 17 percent below numbers from last year. 

“To put this into perspective, it’s even lower than almost the entire period from August 2021 through April 2022,” the report stated. 

The report underscores the ripple effects of President Trump’s ongoing trade war as crypto gets swept up into the broader macro environment. 

While some advocates of crypto have argued digital assets can hedge against market fluctuations, the past few weeks have indicated the crypto market may not be immune.  

While regulatory structures are changing in favor of crypto development, Coinbase Head of Research David Duong says it is still an uphill battle for digital asset recovery. 

“With equities struggling, the path to recovery for crypto remains challenging even with the idiosyncratic tailwinds from the regulatory environment,” he wrote in the monthly report. 

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