The DOJ And Google Sharpen Their Remedy Proposals As The Two Sides Prepare For Closing Arguments | AdExchanger

"It was used by the Supreme Court in its ruling in NCAA v. Alston, an antitrust suit that essentially uncorked sponsorships and other revenue-earning opportunities for college athletes - now known as NIL deals (for "name, age likeness"). Judge Mehta, who ruled in Google's search antitrust trial earlier this year, repeated the tag as part of his rationale for not requiring a divestiture in that case."

"Both sides filed new post-remedy trial briefs on Monday, with the DOJ and Google each citing the phrase in support of their conflicting viewpoints on a potential divestiture of Google's sell-side ad exchange. The two sides have updated their respective filings from September, albeit slightly. The DOJ and Google have added material presented during the remedies trial stage and, most importantly, sharpened their cases based on the clarifying lens of Judge Leonie Brinkema's questions during the remedies trial."

"Google's argument boils down to two things: administering a divestiture of Google's former AdX publisher ad exchange will be a difficult, time-consuming affair, and is only necessitated by the DOJ's contention that Google cannot be trusted to act within the spirit of the law or in compliance with a legal decree. "The distrust of Google by a few large publishers and competitors is not a lever to bypass well-settled antitrust principles," write Google's legal counsel in its updated filing."

'Caution is key' has become a guiding phrase in recent US antitrust outcomes and appears in multiple court rationales. The Supreme Court used the phrase in NCAA v. Alston, and Judge Mehta echoed it when declining a divestiture in Google's search case. The DOJ v. Google publisher ad tech remedy phase features new post-remedy briefs from both sides, updated with trial materials and responses to Judge Brinkema's questions. Google argues a divestiture of AdX would be difficult, time-consuming, and unnecessary absent evidence it will breach a decree. Google proposes limited Prebid integration for open-web display, excluding video, CTV, and in-app inventory.

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