But selling the third-party business would not unravel Google’s dominant position in online ads. For example, when an ad runs during or before a video on YouTube, Google hands about 55% of the fee to the publisher. Google’s network members unit generated sales of $21.5 billion last year, the majority of which was most likely for third-party websites. The most valuable business for Google remains ads that appear in search results, which account for 73% of the firm’s total ad revenue. Splitting off the third-party business might assuage some concerns, but the Justice Department doesn’t appear to be stopping there.

Source: Washington Post February 05, 2020 20:42 UTC