Skip to content
ATDbbeta
DS

Dina Srinivasan

Thought Leader

Dina Srinivasan is one of the most consequential voices in the antitrust debate surrounding digital advertising, uniquely positioned as both a former industry insider and a rigorous legal scholar. Her 2020 paper 'The Antitrust Case Against Facebook,' published in the Berkeley Business Law Journal, became a foundational document cited in the FTC's antitrust lawsuit against Meta — a rare instance of academic legal scholarship achieving direct, measurable regulatory impact. Her subsequent research into Google's dominance across the ad tech stack — examining how the company simultaneously operates as a publisher ad server, advertiser buying tool, and ad exchange — has been cited by the Department of Justice and informed congressional scrutiny of digital advertising monopolies. She is a Fellow at the Thurman Arnold Project at Yale, where she focuses on adtech and antitrust scholarship. Before transitioning to scholarship, Srinivasan spent years working as an executive within the advertising technology industry, giving her firsthand knowledge of the technical architectures, auction mechanics, and business incentive structures that underpin competition concerns. This practitioner background allows her to translate complex adtech dynamics — such as conflicts of interest in programmatic auctions, self-preferencing in ad exchanges, and data asymmetries — into legally actionable frameworks that resonate with regulators and courts. Her work bridges the gap between technical industry practice and antitrust law in a way few scholars can. Srinivasan has testified before government bodies and her research has been featured in major legal journals and mainstream press coverage of tech regulation. She is widely credited with helping establish the intellectual foundation for treating digital advertising markets as distinct, analyzable antitrust markets, and for articulating how vertical integration across the ad stack creates structural conflicts of interest that harm publishers, advertisers, and ultimately consumers.

Last updated Jul 10, 2026 by ATDb automated enrichment

Role
Fellow — adtech/antitrust scholar
Company
Yale University (Thurman Arnold Project)
Based
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Years in industry
15 years

Bio

Dina Srinivasan is one of the most consequential voices in the antitrust debate surrounding digital advertising, uniquely positioned as both a former industry insider and a rigorous legal scholar. Her 2020 paper 'The Antitrust Case Against Facebook,' published in the Berkeley Business Law Journal, became a foundational document cited in the FTC's antitrust lawsuit against Meta — a rare instance of academic legal scholarship achieving direct, measurable regulatory impact. Her subsequent research into Google's dominance across the ad tech stack — examining how the company simultaneously operates as a publisher ad server, advertiser buying tool, and ad exchange — has been cited by the Department of Justice and informed congressional scrutiny of digital advertising monopolies. She is a Fellow at the Thurman Arnold Project at Yale, where she focuses on adtech and antitrust scholarship. Before transitioning to scholarship, Srinivasan spent years working as an executive within the advertising technology industry, giving her firsthand knowledge of the technical architectures, auction mechanics, and business incentive structures that underpin competition concerns. This practitioner background allows her to translate complex adtech dynamics — such as conflicts of interest in programmatic auctions, self-preferencing in ad exchanges, and data asymmetries — into legally actionable frameworks that resonate with regulators and courts. Her work bridges the gap between technical industry practice and antitrust law in a way few scholars can. Srinivasan has testified before government bodies and her research has been featured in major legal journals and mainstream press coverage of tech regulation. She is widely credited with helping establish the intellectual foundation for treating digital advertising markets as distinct, analyzable antitrust markets, and for articulating how vertical integration across the ad stack creates structural conflicts of interest that harm publishers, advertisers, and ultimately consumers.

Career

  • Advertising Technology Executive

    Undisclosed · Prior to 2018

  • Independent Scholar / Researcher

    Self · 2018-2022

Expertise & education

Expertise

Adtech Antitrust LawProgrammatic AdvertisingAd Exchange Auction MechanicsVertical Integration in Ad TechPublisher Ad ServingSelf-Preferencing and Conflicts of InterestDigital Advertising Market DefinitionData Asymmetries in Ad Markets

Education

  • J.D., Law (institution not publicly confirmed)

Speaking topics

Antitrust and digital advertising marketsGoogle's vertical integration across the ad tech stackConflicts of interest in programmatic ad auctionsBig Tech regulation and competition policySelf-preferencing and market power in ad exchangesThe FTC and DOJ cases against Meta and Google

Recognition

Notable achievements

  • Authored 'The Antitrust Case Against Facebook' (Berkeley Business Law Journal, 2020), cited as a foundational document in the FTC's antitrust lawsuit against Meta
  • Research on Google's ad tech stack cited by the U.S. Department of Justice in its antitrust investigation and lawsuit against Google
  • Testified before government bodies on digital advertising competition and antitrust
  • Appointed Fellow at the Thurman Arnold Project at Yale, focusing on adtech and antitrust
  • Credited with establishing the intellectual framework for defining digital advertising as a distinct antitrust market

Publications

  • The Antitrust Case Against Facebook, Berkeley Business Law Journal (2020)
  • Why Google Dominates Advertising Markets, Stanford Technology Law Review (2020)
  • Competition and Auctions in Digital Advertising (various working papers)