Neil I. Patel

To hear the rest of the industry tell it, Google maintained the dominance of that network pretty ruthlessly. Most people just see the cuddly side of Google, not the side that makes money. And that side is just as cutthroat and competitive as any big business.

Verge senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner has been at the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, basically every day this month to hear testimony from news publishers, advertising experts, and Google executives that make sense of what's going on. And ultimately, to see whether a federal judge hands Google another antitrust defeat.

Verge senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner has been at the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, basically every day this month to hear testimony from news publishers, advertising experts, and Google executives that make sense of what's going on. And ultimately, to see whether a federal judge hands Google another antitrust defeat.

Verge senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner has been at the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, basically every day this month to hear testimony from news publishers, advertising experts, and Google executives that make sense of what's going on. And ultimately, to see whether a federal judge hands Google another antitrust defeat.

So I asked Lauren to join the show this week to help me break it all down and get her take on which direction she thinks this case is headed next. Before we get into it, though, I want to take a moment to zoom out to the big picture. There's a lot of vocabulary here, and don't worry, I'm not going to explain all the fine details of how internet advertising works.

So I asked Lauren to join the show this week to help me break it all down and get her take on which direction she thinks this case is headed next. Before we get into it, though, I want to take a moment to zoom out to the big picture. There's a lot of vocabulary here, and don't worry, I'm not going to explain all the fine details of how internet advertising works.

So I asked Lauren to join the show this week to help me break it all down and get her take on which direction she thinks this case is headed next. Before we get into it, though, I want to take a moment to zoom out to the big picture. There's a lot of vocabulary here, and don't worry, I'm not going to explain all the fine details of how internet advertising works.

But there's a few key ideas we should go over just so we're up to speed on the terminology that's getting thrown around in this courtroom. At the heart of the trial here is the market for what we call web display advertising. At a high level, display advertising is the cornerstone of the digital ad market and the oldest form of advertising we have on the internet.

But there's a few key ideas we should go over just so we're up to speed on the terminology that's getting thrown around in this courtroom. At the heart of the trial here is the market for what we call web display advertising. At a high level, display advertising is the cornerstone of the digital ad market and the oldest form of advertising we have on the internet.

But there's a few key ideas we should go over just so we're up to speed on the terminology that's getting thrown around in this courtroom. At the heart of the trial here is the market for what we call web display advertising. At a high level, display advertising is the cornerstone of the digital ad market and the oldest form of advertising we have on the internet.

It started back in the early 90s with the banner ad, and it's expanded from there to include a variety of different ad formats. When you're reading a website, the ads you see most often are display ads, and the market leader there is Google. And while Google now has a lot of different kinds of ads, from search ads to video ads on YouTube, this case doesn't concern those.

It started back in the early 90s with the banner ad, and it's expanded from there to include a variety of different ad formats. When you're reading a website, the ads you see most often are display ads, and the market leader there is Google. And while Google now has a lot of different kinds of ads, from search ads to video ads on YouTube, this case doesn't concern those.

It started back in the early 90s with the banner ad, and it's expanded from there to include a variety of different ad formats. When you're reading a website, the ads you see most often are display ads, and the market leader there is Google. And while Google now has a lot of different kinds of ads, from search ads to video ads on YouTube, this case doesn't concern those.

It's focused on the display ads, how they get there, and how much they cost. Behind every display ad is a supplier, the news publisher, the website owner, whoever owns the boxes on the web pages that are being filled with ads. On the other side, there's a customer, usually a company trying to sell a product or service, someone who wants to fill those boxes.

It's focused on the display ads, how they get there, and how much they cost. Behind every display ad is a supplier, the news publisher, the website owner, whoever owns the boxes on the web pages that are being filled with ads. On the other side, there's a customer, usually a company trying to sell a product or service, someone who wants to fill those boxes.

It's focused on the display ads, how they get there, and how much they cost. Behind every display ad is a supplier, the news publisher, the website owner, whoever owns the boxes on the web pages that are being filled with ads. On the other side, there's a customer, usually a company trying to sell a product or service, someone who wants to fill those boxes.

In the middle sit the ad exchanges, which facilitate the buying and selling of ads at massive scale. Companies like Google with its Google Ads and AdSense platforms and competitors like Pubmatic. But over time, Google has come to own virtually every piece of the ad tech stack, not just the exchanges. but also the tech used on both sides of the ad transaction.

In the middle sit the ad exchanges, which facilitate the buying and selling of ads at massive scale. Companies like Google with its Google Ads and AdSense platforms and competitors like Pubmatic. But over time, Google has come to own virtually every piece of the ad tech stack, not just the exchanges. but also the tech used on both sides of the ad transaction.

In the middle sit the ad exchanges, which facilitate the buying and selling of ads at massive scale. Companies like Google with its Google Ads and AdSense platforms and competitors like Pubmatic. But over time, Google has come to own virtually every piece of the ad tech stack, not just the exchanges. but also the tech used on both sides of the ad transaction.

As online advertising became more sophisticated over time, companies like Google began to experiment with technology that would automate those transactions at ever greater scale and speed through automated bidding. Think of it like countless split-second auctions that are happening across the entire internet all day, every day, often for just pennies per click. The money is in the scale.