News Corp. considered moving away from Google’s advertising products in 2017 — but decided against it after determining it would cost the company at least $9 million in lost revenue, a former executive at The Post’s publisher testified Tuesday.
Google maintains its hold on digital advertising despite providing tools that were “awkward and slow” Stephanie Lesser, who worked as an advertising technology executive at News Corp from 2017 to 2022, said the company ignored requests to add new features.
Despite these issues, Google's control of the market meant it was essentially the only service publishers used to strike advertising deals, according to Lesser, who testified on the second day of the trial. The Justice Department's blockbuster antitrust case targeting an online advertising empire.
“I felt like they held us hostage,” Lesser said.
As of 2016, News Corp earned $83.3 million from ads sold through digital ad tech tools, according to court documents in the non-jury trial.
The records showed that most of the deals used Google's ad exchange, generating $18.4 million in revenue from advertisers active on the platform.
Exploring a potential exit, News Corp estimated that about half of the $18.4 million was spent by advertisers that were exclusive to Google's network, documents discussed during the trial show.
This means that if the news giant leaves Google, it will lose more than $9 million.
He said 70% to 80% of News Corp.'s advertising deals were done through Google tools by the end of Lesser's tenure at the company in 2022.
Lesser's testimony came a day after opening arguments in which the Justice Department accused Google of maintaining a “triarchy of monopolies” through its control over the advertising tools used by publishers that sell ads and advertisers that buy ad space — as well as the ad exchanges that connect the two.
The Justice Department's complaint alleges that Google leverages its dominance of online advertising technology to pocket up to 35 cents of every dollar that comes through its systems.
google defense team, Led by Kamala Harris' advisor Karen Dunnhas argued that the DOJ's case is based on a flawed understanding of how the digital advertising market works — and that any government intervention risks causing major harm to the businesses that rely on its services.
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema will have full discretion over the outcome of the trial. The trial is expected to last about four weeks.
The federal government wants Brinkema to pressure Google to break up its ad technology empire, including divesting its Ad Manager tool.
post with wires
