Google is back in court, this time to decide what happens next in an antitrust lawsuit involving its digital advertising practices.
In April, a judge ruled the company's digital ad network was an illegal monopoly.
The ruling follows a 2023 lawsuit in which the Justice Department accused Google of "abusing its monopoly power to disadvantage website publishers and advertisers who used competing ad tech products."
"It's as if on a dating side, they were looking for a date, they were trying to get a date and they were running the website that puts people together. That's Google's business," said Harry First, Professor of Law Emeritus at New York University.
Now a trial that started Monday in federal court in Virginia will determine Google's punishment.
"Google's stake in this is the possibility of DOJ breaking up its ad tech business. And it's a huge business for them. It's its biggest moneymaker. And it wants to protect it as best it can," said attorney, law professor and author Danny Karon.
Recent history could point to what the judge may decide.
In a ruling earlier this month on a different Google antitrust case, another judge required Google to share search data with competitors but did not make it sell off its Chrome web browser, which is what the Justice Department wanted.
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This new ruling could set precedent for other tech companies like Meta, Amazon and Apple, says law professor Anat Alon-Beck.
"The entire technology world is going to be paying attention," Alon-Beck said.
The remedies hearing is expected to last two to three weeks.
