Senior Reporter Karina Montoya recaps the vital points of Google’s upcoming Ad Tech Trial .

The steps leading up to the jury trial that Google will face this year over monopolization of digital advertising technologies (“ad tech”) are all set. At the pre-trial conference on Friday, February 23, presided over by Judge Leonie Brinkema in a federal court for the Eastern District of Virginia, one thing stood out: she made it clear she does not want to repeat the chaos and impasses of the Google Search monopoly trial in Washington, DC — which wrapped in November 2023 and is awaiting a judge’s ruling.

During the conference, which set the scene for what to expect before and during the trial, Judge Brinkema urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Google to solve any disputes about posting exhibits for the public record ahead of time, after acknowledging that disagreements over this matter in the Google Search case delayed both the trial and access to public records. “I do not want to see this same problem happen […] This trial will not stop to resolve this [matter],” she said.

Brinkema was referring to the time when, about weeks into the Google Search trial in DC, Google challenged the DOJ’s posting of evidence on a government website, which led to the material’s removal for a full week. The move caused uproar among journalists covering the case, observers, and advocates for freedom of the press. The New York Times, with the support of other publications, ended up filing a motion demanding that the court give reporters access to admitted trial exhibits.

The pre-trial conference on Friday helped clarify Judge Brinkema’s expectations of how the Google Ad Tech trial, to kick off on September 9, should transpire. It also helped solve scheduling disagreements about the process leading up to that day.

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