The Justice Department’s complaint against Google on Tuesday called for the company to divest Google Ad Manager, a suite of tools including one that lets websites put ad space up for a sale and another that served as an ad marketplace that automatically matched advertisers with those publishers.
If the Justice Department lawsuit succeeds, “advertisers and publishers could have more leverage with more options with expanding players – and consequently more competition,” said Neil Begley of Moody’s Investors Service.
Apple Inc, which is steadily growing its nascent advertising business and promoting it as privacy-focused, could be a winner if Google ads become less effective, said Brian Mandelbaum, chief executive of marketing firm Attain.
Apple has “an ability to be a new dominant force,” in advertising because Apple has data through its ownership of phones, its Safari web browser and the distribution of apps through the App Store, he said.
With more options besides Google, publishers will have more transparency over how much they can sell ad space for, and could end up paying less in fees, Mandelbaum said.
If successful, the lawsuit could be “the beginning of serious business model changes for Google,” said Paul Gallant, managing director at Cowen Washington Research Group.
