Google Isn't Just a Referee: It's the Arena Owner: Why Monopoly Algorithms Could Threaten Small Businesses

Courts in the U.S. and EU have found that Google unlawfully maintained monopolies in key markets.

On Aug. 5, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that Google illegally maintained monopolies in general search and search text advertising via exclusionary default agreements (Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-rules-google-broke-antitrust-law-search-case-2024-08-05/; Opinion PDF: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/gdpzmaxjxvw/United%20States%20v%20Google%2020240805.pdf).

On Apr. 17, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that Google unlawfully monopolized publisher ad servers and ad exchanges and unlawfully tied its publisher ad server (DFP) to its ad exchange (AdX) (U.S. DOJ press release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-prevails-landmark-antitrust-case-against-google; Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-judge-finds-google-holds-illegal-online-ad-tech-monopolies-2025-04-17/).

Advertising and visibility: documented trends

• Paid search costs have risen for most industries. WordStream’s 2024 benchmarks found CPC increased for 86% of industries, with an overall average increase of about 10% (WordStream 2024: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2024-google-ads-benchmarks; PDF: https://www.wordstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ws-guide-google-ads-benchmarks-2024.pdf). WordStream’s 2025 update reports continued cost pressure in many sectors (WordStream 2025: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2025-google-ads-benchmarks).

• A large share of searches end without a click to external websites. In 2024, 58.5% of U.S. and 59.7% of EU Google searches ended without a click; roughly 360 clicks per 1,000 U.S. searches went to the open web (Search Engine Land: https://searchengineland.com/google-search-zero-click-study-2024-443869; SparkToro: https://sparktoro.com/blog/2024-zero-click-search-study-for-every-1000-us-google-searches-only-374-clicks-go-to-the-open-web-in-the-eu-its-360/).

Algorithm changes: 2024 core update

The March 2024 core update rolled out March 5–April 19, 2024, targeting unhelpful and spam content. Google stated the change reduced low-quality content in search results by about 45% (Search Engine Roundtable: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-march-2024-core-update-finished-april-19-37299.html). Industry reporting documented significant volatility and visibility declines for many publishers (Press Gazette: https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/first-google-core-update-of-2024-brings-bad-news-for-most-news-publishers/; Search Engine Land: https://searchengineland.com/google-march-2024-core-update-key-observations-440148).

Ad tech market structure: court findings

In April 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found that Google holds illegal monopolies in publisher ad servers and ad exchanges and unlawfully tied its publisher ad server (DFP) to its exchange (AdX), harming competition (U.S. DOJ: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-prevails-landmark-antitrust-case-against-google; Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-judge-finds-google-holds-illegal-online-ad-tech-monopolies-2025-04-17/).

Small business impacts: costs and performance benchmarks

Independent benchmarks report rising CPCs and mixed performance trends across many industries, which can pressure acquisition economics for small businesses (WordStream 2024: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2024-google-ads-benchmarks; WordStream 2025: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2025-google-ads-benchmarks). In B2B non‑branded search campaigns, one analysis found CPC up ~29% and CTR down ~26% year over year (Aug 2024–Jul 2025) (Dreamdata: https://dreamdata.io/blog/benchmark-google-search-non-branded-ads).

Self-preferencing findings in shopping results

The European Commission fined Google €2.42 billion in 2017 for abusing its dominant position by favoring its own comparison shopping service in search results (EC press release: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_17_1784; Memo: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_17_1785). In 2021, the EU General Court largely upheld the Commission’s decision (General Court press release PDF: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2021-11/cp210197en.pdf).

Self-preferencing: legal characterization

EU authorities found that favoring a dominant firm’s own comparison shopping service over rivals in search results constituted an abuse of dominance under EU competition law (European Commission 2017 decision; EU General Court 2021 ruling — sources above).

2024–2025: Key U.S. antitrust rulings

• Aug. 5, 2024 (D.D.C.): The court found Google unlawfully maintained monopolies in general search and search text advertising via exclusionary default agreements (Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-rules-google-broke-antitrust-law-search-case-2024-08-05/; Opinion PDF: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/gdpzmaxjxvw/United%20States%20v%20Google%2020240805.pdf).

• Apr. 17, 2025 (E.D. Va.): The court found Google holds illegal monopolies in publisher ad servers and ad exchanges and unlawfully tied its ad server and exchange (U.S. DOJ: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-prevails-landmark-antitrust-case-against-google; Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-judge-finds-google-holds-illegal-online-ad-tech-monopolies-2025-04-17/).

Remedies will be determined in subsequent proceedings; reporting indicates the government may seek structural or conduct remedies in ad tech, and Google has said it will appeal (Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-judge-finds-google-holds-illegal-online-ad-tech-monopolies-2025-04-17/).

Antitrust cases and lawsuits (as of 2025)

• United States v. Google LLC (D.D.C., search and search text ads) — Court found illegal monopolization via exclusionary default agreements (Aug. 5, 2024). Sources: Reuters; Opinion PDF (links above).

• United States et al. v. Google LLC (E.D. Va., ad tech) — Court found illegal monopolies in publisher ad servers and ad exchanges; unlawful tying of DFP and AdX (Apr. 17, 2025). Sources: U.S. DOJ; Reuters.

• European Commission “Google Shopping” decision — EU fined €2.42B for self‑preferencing in comparison shopping (June 27, 2017); largely upheld by EU General Court (Nov. 10, 2021). Sources: EC press release; EU General Court press release PDF.

• Gannett Co., Inc. v. Google (S.D.N.Y., publishers/ad tech) — Ruling in 2025 found Google liable for illegally monopolizing digital ad tech, harming publishers and advertisers (WNA summary: https://wnanews.com/2025/10/31/court-rules-for-gannett-in-google-antitrust-case/).

• Raptive v. Google (2025, publishers/ad auctions) — Lawsuit alleges ad auction manipulation and monopolization, seeking damages (PPC.land: https://ppc.land/raptive-sues-google-for-ad-tech-monopolization-seeking-billions-in-damages/).

Documented impacts on traffic and clicks

Independent clickstream analyses report substantial “zero‑click” behavior in search results, reducing click‑through to external websites. In 2024, 58.5% of U.S. and 59.7% of EU searches ended without a click; about 360 clicks per 1,000 U.S. searches went to the open web (Search Engine Land: https://searchengineland.com/google-search-zero-click-study-2024-443869; SparkToro: https://sparktoro.com/blog/2024-zero-click-search-study-for-every-1000-us-google-searches-only-374-clicks-go-to-the-open-web-in-the-eu-its-360/). Industry reporting also documented visibility declines for many publishers following the March 2024 core update (Press Gazette: https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/first-google-core-update-of-2024-brings-bad-news-for-most-news-publishers/).

What to watch next

• Remedies and appeals timelines will follow in the U.S. search and ad‑tech cases; outcomes may include structural or conduct remedies (Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-judge-finds-google-holds-illegal-online-ad-tech-monopolies-2025-04-17/; Opinion PDF: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/gdpzmaxjxvw/United%20States%20v%20Google%2020240805.pdf).

• Benchmarks indicate ongoing CPC pressure and evolving organic visibility; small businesses can compare performance against industry data when planning budgets (WordStream 2024/2025 benchmarks linked above).

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Written by Marcus Chen, Amerishop Services

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