US in antitrust trial accuses Google of illegal methods to push up ad prices

A lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department pressed a Google executive on Wednesday about techniques the search and advertising giant used to push up online advertising prices in an allegedly unfair way. Testifying at a once-in-a-generation antitrust trial in Washington where the United States has accused Google of abusing its dominance of search and some advertising, Google Vice President of Product Management Adam Juda said the company uses a formula, which includes the quality of an ad, to decide who wins auctions used to place advertising on websites. Juda's testimony began on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday.