The technology behemoth may now be forced to divest its Google Ad Manager business following accusations from the US Department of Justice regarding unlawful monopoly practices.

On Thursday, a U.S. federal judge determined in an antitrust lawsuit that Alphabet’s Google violated anti-monopoly laws by unlawfully dominating publisher ad servers as well as the market for ad exchanges.

With the new ruling, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) may be able to call for the breakup of the company. The department has said Google should at least sell off its Google Ad Manager.

The massive corporation behind the globe’s leading search engine, along with various services like YouTube, is now entangled in yet another legal battle in Washington. The Department of Justice is seeking measures that would force Google to divest itself of its Chrome browser and implement changes aimed at reducing its dominance over internet searches.

More to come...

Edited by: Wesley Rahn

Author: Alex Berry (contributing with Reuters, AFP)