Va. Judge Denies Google’s Motion to Dismiss Digital Ad Antitrust Complaint

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema for the Eastern District of Virginia denied, without an opinion, Google’s motion to dismiss the antitrust complaint brought by DOJ and eight states to thwart the company’s alleged monopoly control over the digital advertising market, said her signed order Friday.

Google’s March 27 motion called the complaint deficient for its failure to allege plausible relevant markets. The motion came just under two weeks after Brinkema denied Google’s motion to transfer the case to the Southern District of New York. DOJ had urged the judge to deny the motion to dismiss because it attempts to adjudicate fact-intensive market definition questions at the motion to dismiss stage and “misstates the law” on market share for Sherman Act claims.