Google knew that publishers would be unhappy when it implemented measures in 2019 to prevent them from diverting ad sales to competitors, it recognized that its stranglehold over the digital ads market would prevent them from fleeing the internet giant’s ad marketplace, according to internal documents presented at the tech giant’s antitrust trial on Thursday.against Google, the U.S.
The documents also showed that Google knew publishers were willing to accept making less money on some ad sales in exchange for the ability to preference other ad tech companies, such as those who charged a lower fee. In a 2017 email thread, Google executives discussed how this helps publishers “keep Google at bay and put pressure on us .”
Ultimately, Google introduced the change alongside other features that publishers favored, such as ending the practice whereby Google’s ad selling tools would receive a “last look” that allowed it to outbid other sellers. Former Google employee Rahul Srinivasan testified that the changes were meant to simplify the system and make it fairer, with Google estimating that its top 500 publishers saw a median increase of 2.7 percent in ad auction revenue.