"I feel like they're holding us hostage," Layser said on the second day of a trial in a Virginia antitrust lawsuit against Google.

Layser, who worked in ad tech at News Corp from 2017 to 2022, said Google said it introduced features that benefited its clients. But she said hardly anyone in the industry used any of the other features because Google’s ad servers were tied to its ad exchange.

The trial is expected to last several weeks, with the Justice Department seeking to prove that Google monopolizes the markets for publisher ad servers, advertiser ad networks, and the ad exchanges that connect the two.

NewsCorp documents presented at trial estimate that the publisher made $83.3 million in 2016 from ads sold instantly through ad tech tools. More than half of those transactions took place through Google’s ad exchange, with $18.4 million coming from advertisers who advertise on Google.

NewsCorp estimates that about half of that, or $9 million, was exclusive to Google and would have been lost if it had switched to another product. Layser said that at the time of her departure, about 70-80% of News Corp's advertising transactions went through Google's ad platform.

Responding to the allegations, Google said the case was based on an outdated view of the industry and that major news organizations use an average of six different platforms to sell advertising and there are more than 80 such services.

At trial, prosecutors are seeking to prove that Google used its dominant position in technology to block publishers and advertisers from using other tools and potentially undercut ad bids through competitors' products.

Layser is the second news organization witness to testify at the trial. Tim Wolfe, Gannett’s chief advertising officer, testified on Monday that the company had used Google’s ad server for about 13 years and had no other real options.

If N.C. District Judge Leonie Brinkema finds that Google violated the law, she will consider prosecutors' request to force Google to at least sell Google Ad Manager, a platform that includes Google's ad server and the tech giant's ad exchange.

Hoang Hai (according to Reuters)