Google has taken the bizarre step of paying the US government’s proposed damages in full as it seeks to avoid a risky jury trial in the Justice Department’s case targeting its alleged monopoly over the digital advertising market.
In a little-noticed court filing last week, Google revealed it cut a cashier’s check for a redacted amount of money — believed to be a paltry sum of less than $3 million — that the company claimed covered “full monetary damages” sought by the DOJ.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the DOJ’s legal team had accepted the check.
The DOJ had filed for monetary damages on behalf of government entities, such as the US army, that have purportedly overpaid for online ads due to Google’s harmful business practices.
Critics of Google seized on the filing as proof that the company was afraid to leave the case — which could upend its lucrative digital advertising business and force changes to its business model — in the hands of jurors.
“Google A/B tests everything, so this move suggests they’ve run a jury simulation (perhaps more than once) and found they’re vulnerable,” said Luther Lowe, the head of public policy at Y Combinator.
Filed in Virginia federal court, the DOJ’s case also seeks to force a breakup of Google’s advertising technology business, including the forced sale of its ad manager platform.
Google argued that DOJ sought monetary damages solely to clear the legal bar for securing a trial by jury, rather than a bench trial decided by a judge.
Google’s lawyers argue the check means the DOJ has no right to a jury trial.
“Google continues to dispute liability and welcomes a full resolution by this court of all remaining claims in the complaint,” the company’s filing said.
Google also has claimed that the DOJ’s request for a jury trial was “breaking with all historical precedent” for antitrust proceedings
The filing noted that the DOJ itself has referred to the details of the case as “highly technical, often abstract, and outside the everyday knowledge of most prospective jurors.”
Google said in previous filings that the DOJ has demonstrated maximum damages of less than $1 million during the discovery process. Since the law allows the court to issue treble damages – or triple the originally stated amount – the check was likely less than $3 million.
“DOJ manufactured a damages claim at the last minute in an attempt to secure a jury trial in a case even they describe as ‘highly technical’ and ‘outside the everyday knowledge of most prospective jurors,’” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. “That’s why the law warrants a judicial review of the evidence in this case.”
The Post has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Earlier this year, Google was handed one of the worst legal losses in company history after a jury determined by unanimous verdict that it had maintained an illegal monopoly through its Android app store.
The case, which was brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, is currently in the remedy phase.
Another major antitrust case, the Justice Department’s landmark challenge of Google’s online search empire, was a bench trial. US District Judge Amit Mehta will issue his decision on whether Google maintains a monopoly over online search later this year.
With Post wires
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