Alexandria, Virginia – One month after a judge branded Google’s search engine an illegal monopoly, the internet titan is facing another antitrust lawsuit, this time over its advertising technology, which threatens to split the firm.

The Justice Department, joined by a coalition of states, and Google each presented opening arguments Monday before a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, which will decide whether Google has a monopoly on internet advertising technology.

The regulators argue that Google created, acquired, and maintains a monopoly on the technology that connects internet publishers and advertisers. The government claims that Google’s dominance of the software on both the buy and sell sides of the transaction allows it to keep up to 36 cents per dollar when it brokers sales between publishers and advertising.

Google Faces A New Antitrust Trial After Ruling Declaring Search Engine A Monopoly

They argue that Google also dominates the ad exchange market, which connects the purchase and sale sides.

“A single monopoly is terrible enough. But we have a trifecta of monopolies,” Justice Department lawyer Julia Tarver Wood said in her opening statement.

Google claims that the government’s case is based on an internet of the past when desktop computers prevailed and internet users meticulously typed precise World Wide Web addresses into URL fields. Advertisers are increasingly turning to social media platforms like TikTok and streaming TV services like Peacock.

In her opening comments, Google lawyer Karen Dunn compared the government’s evidence to a “time capsule with a Blackberry, an iPod, and a Blockbuster video card.”

Dunn stated that Supreme Court precedents caution judges about “the serious risk of error or unintended consequences” when dealing with quickly evolving technology and determining whether antitrust law demands involvement. She also cautioned that any action taken against Google would not benefit small businesses, but would instead allow other tech behemoths such as Amazon, Microsoft, and TikTok to fill the gap.

According to Google’s annual reports, revenue for Google Networks, the division of the Mountain View, California-based tech giant that includes services like AdSense and Google Ad Manager at the heart of the case, has decreased in recent years, from $31.7 billion in 2021 to $31.3 billion in 2023.

The case will now be handled by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is best known for high-profile terrorism cases, notably the one involving 9/11 suspect Zacarias Moussaoui. Brinkema, on the other hand, has prior expertise with highly complex civil trials, having worked in a courthouse that handles a large number of patent infringement cases.

The Virginia case follows Google’s significant defeat over its search engine. A judge in the District of Columbia deemed the search engine a monopoly, supported in part by tens of billions of dollars. Google pays firms like Apple each year to ensure that Google is the default search engine offered to customers when they purchase iPhones and other devices.

In December, a judge ruled that Google’s Android app store is a monopoly in a dispute brought by a private gaming company.

In the search engine case, the judge has yet to impose any remedies. The government has not proposed any fines, but there may be strict scrutiny over whether Google should be permitted to continue making exclusivity deals that ensure its search engine is the default option for customers.

According to Peter Cohan, a professor of management practice at Babson College, the Virginia case could be more devastating to Google because the obvious solution would be to require it to give off parts of its ad tech company, which generates billions of dollars in income each year.

“Divestitures are definitely a possible remedy for this second case,” according to Cohan. “It could be potentially more significant than initially meets the eye.”

Google is also under increasing pressure over its ad tech business on both sides of the Atlantic. British competition officials accused the corporation last week of abusing its control in the country’s digital ad industry by prioritizing its services. Last year, European Union antitrust authorities conducting their investigation concluded that breaking up the corporation was the only way to address competition concerns regarding its digital ad business.

The prosecution’s witnesses in the Virginia trial will include executives from newspaper publishers, whom the government claims have suffered disproportionately as a result of Google’s tactics.

“Google extracted extraordinary fees at the expense of the website publishers who make the open internet vibrant and valuable,” government lawyers stated in court documents.

The government’s first witness was Tim Wolfe, an official with Gannett Co., a newspaper company whose main publication is USA Today. According to Wolfe, Gannett believes it has little choice but to continue using Google’s ad tech tools, even though the business keeps 20 cents on the dollar from each ad transaction, not including what it charges advertisers. He stated that Gannett cannot give up access to Google’s vast network of advertising.

Google Faces A New Antitrust Trial After Ruling Declaring Search Engine A Monopoly

During cross-examination, Wolfe admitted that, despite Google’s alleged monopoly, Gannett was able to collaborate with other competitors to offer its available inventory to advertisers.

The government’s case also seeks to leverage the remarks of Google employees against them. In their opening statements, Justice Department lawyers noted an email received by a Google employee that questioned if Google’s control of the technology on all three sides constituted “a deeper issue” to examine.

“The analogy would be if Goldman or Citibank owned the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange),” said employee Jonathan Bellack.

Google claims that integrating its technology on the buy, sell, and intermediate sides ensures that adverts and web pages load swiftly while also improving security.

Google claims that the government’s case is overly focused on display ads and banner ads that appear on web pages viewed via a desktop computer, failing to account for consumers’ shift to mobile apps and the surge in ads posted on social media sites over the last 15 years.

The government’s argument “focusses on a limited type of advertising viewed on a narrow subset of websites when user attention migrated elsewhere years ago,” Google’s lawyers argued in a court filing.

The experiment is planned to last a few weeks.

SOURCE | AP

Boeing waited to learn Thursday whether 33,000 aircraft assembly workers, the majority of whom are based in the Seattle region, would go on strike and halt production of the company’s best-selling jets.

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers were voting on whether to accept a contract offer that included a 25% salary increase over four years. If the manufacturing workers reject the contract and two-thirds vote to strike, the work stoppage will begin Friday at 12:01 a.m. PDT.

Boeing Factory Workers Are Voting Whether To Strike And Shut Down Aircraft Production

A walkout would not result in flight cancellations or have a direct impact on airline passengers, but it would be another blow to Boeing’s reputation and finances in a year marked by issues in its aircraft, defense, and space divisions.

New CEO Kelly Ortberg made a last-ditch effort to avoid a strike Wednesday, assuring machinists that “no one wins” in a walkout.

“For Boeing, it is no secret that our business is in a difficult period, in part due to our own mistakes in the past,” Mr. Musk said. “Working together, I know that we can get back on track, but a strike would put our shared recovery in jeopardy, further eroding trust with our customers and hurting our ability to determine our future together.”

According to Boeing, the machinists earn an average of $75,608 per year, not including overtime, and this figure will climb to $106,350 at the end of the four-year deal.

Although the contract’s negotiating committee recommended ratification, IAM District 751 President Jon Holden predicted earlier this week that workers would vote to strike. Many of them have made complaints about the agreement on social media.

Voting began at 5 a.m. local time at union halls in Washington state, Portland, Oregon, and a few other sites, with results anticipated late Thursday.

A strike would halt production of the company’s best-selling airliner, the 737 Max, as well as the 777 or “triple-seven” jet and the 767 cargo plane, at plants in Everett and Renton, Washington, near Seattle. It is unlikely to affect Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are produced in South Carolina by nonunion workers.

Based on Boeing’s strike history, TD Cowen aerospace analyst Cai von Rumohr believes a walkout might stretch until mid-November, when workers’ $150 weekly payments from the union’s strike fund may appear low heading into the holidays.

According to von Rumohr, a strike that lasts that long may lose Boeing up to $3.5 billion in cash flow because the corporation receives roughly 60% of the sale price when it delivers a plane to the buyer.

Union negotiators unanimously urged workers to endorse the provisional deal signed over the weekend.

Boeing has vowed to manufacture its next new airliner in the Puget Sound area. That airliner, which isn’t due until the 2030s, would replace the 737 Max. That was a significant victory for union leaders, who want to avoid a repeat of Boeing shifting Dreamliner production from Everett to South Carolina.

However, the agreement fell short of the union’s initial demand for 40% wage increases over three years. The union also wanted to reinstate traditional pensions, which were eliminated a decade ago but settled for an increase in Boeing contributions to employees’ 401(k) retirement plans.

Boeing Factory Workers Are Voting Whether To Strike And Shut Down Aircraft Production

Holden told members on Monday that the union had achieved everything it could in negotiations and suggested that the contract be approved “because we can’t guarantee we’ll be able to achieve more through a strike.”

Many union members, however, are still resentful of earlier concessions on pensions, health care, and compensation.

“They’re upset. They desire so much stuff. “I believe Boeing understands this and wishes to satisfy a significant number of them,” said aerospace analyst von Rumohr. “The question is, are they going to do enough?”

Boeing’s reputation suffered when two 737 Max airliners crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 passengers. The safety of its goods was called into question again after a panel on a Max blew out during a trip in January.

SOURCE | AP

EV Battery maker Northvolt has announced there would be a revised timeline for plant in Canada but did not provide further details. Potential revisions to these projects would be confirmed in the fall.

Northvolt will cut a large number of jobs and sell or seek partners for its energy storage and materials businesses as Europe’s leading battery hope aims to survive by refocusing on its struggling first giga-factory in northern Sweden.

The Swedish manufacturer, which has raised the most capital at US$15 billion of any other unlisted European start-up, has been significantly delayed by issues at its facility located just below the Arctic Circle. Additionally, European carmakers have slowed their plans to transition to electric vehicles.

Northvolt announced on Monday that it would cease production of cathode active materials, sell one site, and instead source materials from Chinese or Korean companies. Additionally, the company will pursue a buyer or partner for its energy storage business, which is located in Gdańsk, Poland.

The group, which is supported by Volkswagen AG, Goldman Sachs, BMW, Siemens, and BlackRock, has been experiencing a cash flow deficit. It has announced that its cost-cutting strategy will “regrettably” involve “some difficult decisions on the size of our workforce,” which is currently at 7,000 employees.

In addition, executives have stated that the construction of three additional gigafactories, which are to be constructed in Sweden, Germany, and Canada in a joint venture with Volvo Cars, will be postponed. However, they have also stated that they will provide additional information regarding the number of employment cuts at a later date.

In late 2021, Northvolt was the first European company to produce a EV battery cell for EVs from a domestic giga-factory. However, the company has encountered difficulty in increasing production rates since then. Its giga-factory in Skellefteå has an annual capacity of 16 gigawatt hours; however, it is currently producing less than 1GWh.

BMW recently terminated a US$2 billion contract with Northvolt and instead awarded it to Samsung SDI of Korea, citing supply constraints. The slow adoption of electric vehicles has resulted in the postponement of the construction of battery facilities in Europe by Korean and Chinese organisations.

Northvolt has also encountered financial difficulties vital for the expansion of production so consequently, the company has been compelled to reduce investments and expenditures.

Northvolt, which initiated its strategic review in July, intends to concentrate on cell manufacturing in Skellefteå, which has prompted concerns regarding the future of its recycling and materials operations.

It is also deliberating on how to proceed with the significant advancement in EV battery technology for energy storage that it announced with sodium-ion batteries. These batteries do not require lithium, cobalt, or nickel, which are materials that companies have been eager to acquire.

Executives stated that Northvolt could continue to advance the sodium-ion technology in collaboration with other manufacturers, despite its pursuit of purchasers or partners for its energy storage business.

Northvolt declared this year that it would establish an electric vehicle battery plant in the Quebec province of Canada for C$7 billion, or $5.17 billion. The EV Battery Manufacturer stated that the federal and provincial governments of Canada would each provide $1 billion towards the first phase of construction.

Northvolt has received investments of approximately US $1.1 billion from Canadian pension funds, including Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), BlackRock, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and CDPQ.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada has established EV manufacturing as a cornerstone of his industrial policy, providing production credits and other forms of assistance to 13 battery businesses and automakers valued at C$56 billion ($41.34 billion).

Nevertheless, a slowdown in the demand for electric vehicles has forced a number of industry players to postpone or cancel investments reaching C$46 billion ($33.96 billion).
billion).

Nevertheless, the development of EV demand has slowed, resulting in the cancellation or postponement of investments totalling C$46 billion ($33.96 billion) by numerous industry companies.

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