Key Takeaways:
- A federal judge rejected DOJ demands to break up Google, ordering behavioral remedies instead.
- Google must open its AdX ad exchange to rival servers under a six-year order.
- An internal monitor will oversee compliance, though Google plans to appeal the liability ruling.
The Google ad tech antitrust ruling orders Google to change key advertising practices and appoint an antitrust monitor, while rejecting the U.S. demand to break up its ad tech business.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said Google must loosen rules governing its online advertising auctions and stop practices that can tie publishers to its advertising tools. The changes will remain in place for six years.
The decision follows Brinkema’s April 2025 finding that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in parts of the online advertising technology market. The judge said the remedies should restore competition without requiring Google to sell its advertising exchange, known as AdX.
Google ad tech antitrust ruling orders changes
Brinkema said Google should not require websites that use its ad server to also use AdX. She also ordered changes to practices that publishers said kept them tied to Google’s advertising technology.
The judge said the measures would be enough to open the affected markets to competition and prevent Google from returning to conduct that violated antitrust law.
Brinkema also ordered Google to appoint an internal antitrust compliance monitor. She said the monitor was necessary because of the seriousness of the violations, although the monitor will have less authority than the Justice Department had requested.
The remedies fall short of the government’s request for Google to sell AdX. Publishers pay Google a 20% fee through AdX to sell advertising in real-time auctions that occur when users load websites.
Brinkema said allowing rival publisher ad servers access to real-time bids from AdX would help restore competition without requiring a sale of the exchange.
Google plans to appeal part of decision
Google said it disagrees with Brinkema’s ruling concerning Google Ad Manager, its publishing tool, and plans to appeal that portion of the decision.
The company also argued that forcing a divestiture would have made it harder for small businesses to reach customers. The ruling leaves Google’s broader advertising business intact while imposing restrictions on how it operates in the market.
The Google ad tech antitrust ruling comes as Google’s parent company, Alphabet, expands its artificial intelligence operations and competes with companies including OpenAI and Anthropic.
Digital advertising remains a major source of Alphabet’s revenue. The judge’s decision said worldwide digital advertising spending could reach $605 billion next year, up from $424 billion in 2023. Advertising accounted for about 73% of Alphabet’s revenue last year.
Justice department reviews its legal options
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. described the ruling as a “significant victory” for Justice Department efforts to protect and restore competition.
The department had sought a stronger remedy, including the sale of AdX and a 15-year duration for the restrictions. Brinkema instead set the remedies for six years and gave the government and Google 30 days to submit a proposed final judgment.
The Justice Department said it is reviewing the 106-page decision to determine its legal options. Google will also pursue its appeal over the Ad Manager liability finding.
Brinkema gave both sides 14 days to request redactions of confidential information from the written decision. The final judgment will determine the precise terms of the remedies.
