A Virginia district court on April 28 rejected Google’s request to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) about the company’s advertising business.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, accuses Google of monopolizing key digital advertising technologies, known as the “ad tech stack,” in violation of antitrust laws. These technologies are crucial for website publishers to sell ads and for advertisers to reach potential customers.

Eric Mahr, Google’s lawyer, argued that the government’s claim of Google being a monopoly was not justified as the company’s ad business does not meet the 70 percent market share benchmark. He also cited other social media platforms such as Facebook and Tiktok as viable options for advertisers.