Google cuts check for DOJ while trying to dodge jury trial in digital ads lawsuit

Published

1 month ago

May 22, 2024

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Google has taken the bizarre step of paying the US governments proposed damages in full as it seeks to avoid a risky jury trial in the Justice Departments case targeting its alleged monopoly over the digital advertising market.

In a little-noticed court filing last week, Google revealed it cut a cashiers 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 wasnt immediately clear if the DOJs 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 Googles 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 theyve run a jury simulation (perhaps more than once) and found theyre vulnerable, said Luther Lowe, the head of public policy at Y Combinator.

Filed in Virginia federal court, the DOJs case also seeks to force a breakup of Googles 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.

Googles 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 companys filing said.

Google also has claimed that the DOJs 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. Thats 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 Departments landmark challenge of Googles 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

Entertainment

Sabrina Carpenter: US singer breaks Ariana Grande’s UK chart record

Published

40 mins ago

June 21, 2024

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Sabrina Carpenter: US singer breaks Ariana Grande's UK chart record

Sabrina Carpenter has set a new UK chart record by becoming the youngest female artist to take the top two singles spots in the same week.

The US singer reached number one on the Official Charts Company rundown with Please Please Please, pushing Espresso, which had been at the top for five weeks, down to number two.

Please Please Please totalled 9.8 million combined streams, while Espresso came in second with 8.1 million streams.

At the age of 25 years, one month and 10 days, Carpenter overtakes Ariana Grande, the previous youngest holder of the record, by around six months.

Grande achieved the same two-spot hold in the same week when she was 25 years, seven months and 20 days old in February 2019 with 7 Rings at number one and Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored at number two.

Eminem is at number three this week with Houdini, while Billie Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather is at number four, followed by Shaboozey’s A Bar Song (Tipsy).

Taylor Swift doesn’t make the top five, but sets a new personal best in the albums chart with a seventh week at the top.

The Tortured Poets Department earns a seventh non-consecutive week at number one, surpassing 2022’s Midnights which spent five weeks at the summit.

Swift is in the UK for her Eras Tour, and will take to the stage in London’s Wembley Stadium on Friday evening.

At number two is US singer-songwriter Eilish’s latest record Hit Me Hard And Soft, while British singer Charli XCX’s Brat came in at number three.

In fourth spot is Canadian musician The Weeknd’s greatest hits collection The Highlights.

British rock group Sea Girls also celebrate a hat-trick of top five albums as their third studio collection Midnight Butterflies makes its debut at number five.

The group previously saw success with 2020’s Open Up Your Head and 2022 LP Homesick, which both reached number three.

Sports

Kansas gov. signs effort to entice Chiefs, Royals

Published

40 mins ago

June 21, 2024

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Kansas gov. signs effort to entice Chiefs, Royals

Associated Press

Jun 21, 2024, 01:31 PM ET

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed legislation Friday enabling the state to lure the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Major League Baseball’s Royals away from neighboring Missouri by helping the teams pay for new stadiums.

Kelly’s action came three days after the Republican-led Legislature approved the measure with bipartisan supermajorities — an unusually quick turnaround that signals how urgently Kansas officials consider making the offers.

Missouri officials have argued that discussions about building new stadiums are still in the early stages. They said construction of a new one typically takes about three years and pointed out that the lease on the existing complex that includes the teams’ side-by-side stadiums doesn’t end until January 2031.

The measure Kelly signed takes effect July 1 and will allow bonds to cover 70% of a new stadium’s cost. Kansas would have 30 years to pay them off with revenues from sports betting, state lottery ticket sales, and new sales and alcohol taxes generated in the area around each proposed stadium.

The Kansas-Missouri border splits the 2.3 million-resident Kansas City area, with about 60% of the people living on the Missouri side.

Kansas officials began working on the legislation after voters on the Missouri side of the metropolitan area refused in April to continue a sales tax used to keep up the existing stadium complex. The Royals outlined a plan in February to build a $2 billion-plus ballpark in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, that would be ready for the start of the 2028 season while the Chiefs were planning an $800 million renovation of their existing home.

Attorneys for the teams told Kansas legislators that they needed to make decisions about the future soon for new stadiums to be ready on time. Some critics suggested the teams are pitting the two states against each other for the biggest government subsidies possible.

“The Chiefs and the Royals are pretty much using us,” said state Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Democrat from the Kansas City, Kansas, area who voted against the bill.

Supporters of bringing the teams to Kansas warned that if neither state acts quickly enough, one or both teams could leave for another community entirely. Several economists who have studied professional sports were skeptical that a move would make financial sense for either a team or a new host city, and both the NFL and MLB require a supermajority of owners to approve franchise moves.

The plan had support from throughout Kansas, including about half of the lawmakers from western Kansas, 200 miles away from any new stadium.

Kansas lawmakers approved the stadium financing plan during a single-day special session Tuesday. Although the financing law doesn’t specifically name the Chiefs or Royals, it is limited to stadiums for NFL and MLB teams “in any state adjacent to Kansas.”

“It’s fairly clearly about how you poach,” Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas said during a news conference after Kansas lawmakers approved the measure. He added that his city would “lay out a good offer” to keep both teams in town and that the teams “are in an exceptional leverage position.”

Politics

Labour Party raises 15 times more than Tories in donations during second week of campaign

Published

40 mins ago

June 21, 2024

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Labour Party raises 15 times more than Tories in donations during second week of campaign

The Labour Party raised almost £4.4m in the second full week of the general election campaign – close to 15 times the amount brought in by the Tories.

Rishi Sunak’s party took in just under £300,000 between 6 and 12 June.

Reform UK raised more than double this figure, with £742,000 taken. However, £500,000 of this money was handed over by Britain Means Business, a company run by Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice.

The Liberal Democrats also took in more than the Conservatives, raising £335,000.

The Green Party raised £20,000.

Labour raised £4,383,400 – and its partner the Co-operative Party raised £60,000.

Follow live: More bad news for Tory campaign

The Conservatives raised £292,500, according to Electoral Commission figures.

The Tory figure is also roughly half of what they raised in the first full week of the campaign.

Between 30 May and 5 June, the Conservatives took in £574,918, compared to Labour’s £926,908.

However, looking at the 2019 election, the Conservative Party raised 10 times this figure in the first week of the campaign – raising £5.7m between 6 and 12 November 2019.

Labour took in £218,500 at this time.

Who gave the parties the most money?

Digging into the breakdown from the Electoral Commission, we can see a bit more about who gave the different parties the most money.

As mentioned, Reform’s biggest donor is a company run by their deputy leader.

A man called David Lilley also gave the party £100,000, and another notable contributor was Holly Vukadinovic – the maiden name of model Holly Valance – who gave £50,000.

For Labour, the biggest donor was Lord Sainsbury, who gave £2.5m, followed by Autoglass boss Gary Lubner, who handed over £900,000.

Their largest union donation came from train driver body Aslef, which donated £100,000.

For the Lib Dems, they received £150,000 from Adam Management Holdings, and another £100,000 from the late John Faulkner, a former party member who has left money to the party.

The Conservatives registered a £50,000 donation from “The Spring Lunch” – which is the name of one of their fundraising events – as well as £50,000 from Bestway Wholesale, a company which has a Tory peer named as a director.