News Corp Reveals High Costs of Switching from Google's Ad Tools at Antitrust Trial

In a recent antitrust trial, News Corp disclosed the significant financial impact of moving away from Google's advertising tools. Testimony revealed that such a switch could result in a $9 million loss. Despite frustrations with Google's market dominance, most publishers remain reliant on its ad exchange.

News Corp explored moving away from Google's advertising tools back in 2017, estimating a financial hit of at least $9 million in ad revenue loss, an ex-executive testified on Tuesday during Google's antitrust trial in Virginia.

Stephanie Layser, who worked in advertising tech at News Corp from 2017 to 2022, stated that Google introduced features favoring itself over publishers. Despite industry frustrations, Google's ad server's ties to its ad exchange kept publishers loyal, she added. "I felt like they were holding us hostage," Layser said.

The trial, expected to last several weeks, is an attempt by the U.S. Department of Justice to prove Google's monopoly over publisher ad servers, advertiser ad networks, and ad exchanges. Documents showed that in 2016, News Corp earned $83.3 million from ad tech tools, with over half of transactions using Google's ad exchange.

Google has countered, arguing that the industry is broader and more competitive than portrayed. The court may require Google to divest its Google Ad Manager if found guilty of monopolistic practices.

(With inputs from agencies.)