Alphabet's Google will not face a jury trial over its alleged digital advertising dominance after the company wrote a check to the United States to cover monetary damages, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
The U.S. Justice Department and a coalition of states sued
the tech giant last year, claiming it was unlawfully monopolizing digital
advertising and overcharging users. The jury trial would have been the
first-ever in a civil antitrust case lodged by the Justice Department, Google
said.
Friday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in
Alexandria, Virginia means Google will face a non-jury trial in the lawsuit,
which seeks primarily to break up its digital advertising business to allow for
more competition.
Google confirmed that Brinkema, who had previously scheduled
a jury trial for September, had issued the ruling during a court hearing but
declined to comment further on Friday.
The company has denied wrongdoing and said it was not
admitting liability by submitting a damages payment.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Google said last month the government, which had initially
claimed more than $100 million in damages, could not show more than $1 million
in damages and wrote a check to cover the amount. The final amount has not been
disclosed.
Google had accused the federal government of manufacturing
its monetary damages claim in order to ensure a jury trial, since non-monetary
demands are heard by judges directly in antitrust cases.
The Justice Department responded that it was open to
resolving the money damages part of its case, but only if Google cut a larger
check.
“Google has fought hard to keep its anticompetitive conduct
shielded from public view,” the government told Brinkema last month.