On Friday, a US federal judge ruled that an antitrust lawsuit seeking to dissolve Google’s advertising technology business will be going to trial as early as March 2024, reported Bloomberg.
US Magistrate Judge John Anderson in Alexandria has set a timeline for the case between Alphabet Inc.’s Google and the Justice Department, with all pretrial work to be completed by January 20xx. Despite the parties’ proposal for the additional time ending in July 2024, this timeline needs to be met in order to continue proceedings.
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema will hold a Jan. 18, 2024 hearing to officially set the trial date, he said.
Read more: Meet The Judge Hearing The Google US Antitrust Case
Google and the DOJ had proposed extending pretrial work through July 2024, with Google arguing for more time for discovery due to a long head start on the DOJ’s part, but that overture was rejected.
The Justice Dept. and eight states filed suit against Google in January, accusing the company of violating the antitrust Sherman Act and calling for a breakup of the ad-tech business.
