(Bloomberg) — Alphabet Inc.’s Google has offered concessions to change certain aspects of its advertising business in an attempt to head off a possible US antitrust lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Google has proposed splitting part of its business that auctions and places ads on websites and apps into a separate company that would still remain under the Alphabet umbrella, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. That new unit could possibly be valued at tens of billions of dollars, depending on what assets it contained, according to the Journal.
“We have been engaging constructively with regulators to address their concerns,” a Google spokesperson said. “As we’ve said before, we have no plans to sell or exit this business, and we’re deeply committed to providing value to a wide array of publisher and advertiser partners in a highly competitive sector. Rigorous competition in ad technology has made online ads more relevant, reduced fees, and expanded options for publishers and advertisers.
The US Department of Justice declined to comment.
The Justice Department has been conducting a long-running investigation into Google’s digital advertising practices amid allegations that the search giant abuses its position as both a broker and auctioneer of digital ads, allowing it to funnel business to its sites at the expense of rivals. Google has disputed that it dominates the ad tech market, arguing that the space is crowded with major companies competing for business.
The department is preparing a lawsuit alleging Google’s ad-tech practices are anticompetitive, and could file it as soon as this summer, the Journal said.
(Updates with comment from Google)
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