DOJ Accuses Google of Abusing Ad Tech Market Power

Google's Unified Pricing Rules allegedly forced publishers into less favorable terms, according to DOJ's antitrust case.

The DOJ presented internal Google documents showing the company knowingly altered ad pricing rules to regain control over the ad tech market.
Google's Unified Pricing Rules (UPR) required publishers to set the same floor price for all ad exchanges, removing their ability to push Google harder by setting higher prices for AdX.
Publishers expressed frustration at a 2019 meeting, arguing that UPR took away critical control and benefited Google at their expense.
Google defended UPR as a move to improve auction transparency and fairness, claiming that publishers saw increased revenue after its implementation.
The DOJ's evidence included emails and audio recordings suggesting Google took deliberate steps to thwart publishers' efforts to diversify revenue away from its platform.