Google describes the DOJ's proposals as "radical and reckless."

Alphabet's Google is seeking to avoid being forced to sell part of its online advertising business in a trial that began Monday in Alexandria, Virginia. The trial represents the US government's next major attempt to address what a judge has determined to be Google's monopoly power, following the recent rejection of its separate effort to force Google to sell its Chrome browser.

At the center of the trial is Google's ad exchange, AdX, where online publishers pay the tech giant a 20 percent commission to sell ads through auctions that occur instantly whenever users load their websites. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) wants Google to sell AdX and make the system that decides auction winners open source, reports Reuters.

Julia Tarver Wood, a DOJ antitrust attorney, said in her opening statement, "Leaving Google with the motive and the means to recreate that tie is simply too great a risk." She argued that selling AdX is necessary to restore competition.

Google attorney Karen Dunn described the DOJ's proposals as "radical and reckless" in her opening statement, warning that they would harm competition by effectively removing Google from the market.

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Google has asked the judge to follow a cautious approach, pointing to a separate case in Washington, D.C., where most DOJ remedies were rejected. Wood said that the previous case involved Chrome, which was only a distribution method and not part of the monopoly itself, making the ad tech case very different.

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Instead of selling AdX, Google has offered to change its policies to make it easier for publishers to use other platforms. The DOJ says these changes alone won't restore competition. Google had previously offered to sell AdX during EU antitrust investigations, and internal studies from that time may be used in the trial.

The outcome of this trial could reshape the online advertising industry and is being closely watched by publishers, tech rivals, and regulators.