Google Antitrust Lawsuit: In a major setback for Sundar Pichai-led Google the tech giant is facing lawsuits for allegedly violating anti-trust laws and using its monopoly to stifle competition in the ad-tech market. On Thursday US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria Virginia found Google liable for willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power in markets for publisher ad servers and the market for ad exchanges which sit between buyers and sellers Reuters reported. Google parent Alphabet Inc. has been accused of monopolizing all three sectors of digital advertising - publisher ad servers advertiser tools and ad exchange. The tech titan is facing two federal lawsuits that could pave the way for US antitrust prosecutors to seek a breakup of Googles ad products. The plaintiffs have alleged that most websites employ all three of Googles advertising software products which leaves no room for publishers to avoid the companys advertising technology. In her judgement Judge Brinkema ruled that Google has violated the Sherman Act by deliberately engaging in a series of anti-competitive practices to maintain its monopoly in the publishers ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising. The judge further ruled that Google has consolidated its monopoly by imposing anti-competitive policies on its customers and eliminating desirable product features. Publisher ad servers are platforms used by websites to store and manage their digital ad inventory. Along with ad exchanges the technology lets news publishers and other online content providers make money by selling ads. Those funds are the lifeblood of the internet Brinkema wrote according to Reuters. Google still has the option to challenge the District Court judgement in the US Supreme Court however insiders believe relief seems unlikely as this is the second major US antitrust trial the tech firm has lost within less than a year. In August 2024 the Sundar Pichai-led tech giant had lost a major antitrust suit when Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled that Google Search is an illegal monopoly. (With inputs from agencies)