Google will be required to loosen restrictions around its online advertising technology and install an internal antitrust compliance monitor, while avoiding a government-requested breakup of part of its ad-tech business, according to Reuters.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, outlined the remedies in a 106-page decision unsealed Wednesday, Reuters reported. The ruling follows her April 2025 finding that Google had unlawfully maintained monopoly power in parts of the online advertising technology market.
The decision represents a significant outcome in the U.S. government’s effort to curb Google’s dominance of the infrastructure used to buy and sell digital advertising. Rather than forcing the Alphabet Inc. unit to divest assets, Brinkema opted for changes intended to give publishers and rival advertising platforms greater freedom to compete.
Under the remedies, Google will have to separate certain commercial requirements involving its publisher ad server and AdX, its advertising exchange, according to Reuters. Websites using Google’s ad server will no longer have to use AdX, while rival publisher ad servers are expected to gain greater access to real-time bids from the exchange.
Brinkema concluded that those measures could reopen affected ad-tech markets to competition and reduce the risk of Google returning to practices the court had found anticompetitive, Reuters reported.
The Justice Department had sought a more aggressive remedy, including the sale of AdX. The government argued that behavioral restrictions alone would not adequately address Google’s market power. Brinkema rejected that approach, concluding that expanded access to AdX bids through competing publisher ad servers could provide an effective alternative to divestiture, according to Reuters.
The court will also require an internal antitrust compliance monitor. The restrictions are set to remain in effect for six years, considerably shorter than the 15-year period sought by the Justice Department and states involved in the litigation, Reuters reported.
Related: Google Overhauls European Search to Comply With EU Competition Rules
We’d love to be your preferred source for news.
Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!
Google said it plans to appeal the court’s underlying liability finding involving its Google Ad Manager publishing technology, according to Reuters. The company has argued that forcing it to sell parts of the business would make it more difficult for smaller companies to reach customers.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. characterized the ruling as a significant win for the government’s effort to restore competition, while saying the Justice Department was reviewing the opinion and considering its legal options, Reuters reported.
The outcome removes, at least for now, the prospect of another court-ordered dismantling of a major part of Google’s business. In a separate U.S. antitrust case involving internet search, another federal judge previously imposed measures aimed at increasing competition but declined to order Google to sell its Chrome browser, according to Reuters.
The stakes are substantial for Alphabet. Advertising generated about 73% of the company’s revenue last year, Reuters reported. Brinkema’s decision cited estimates showing annual worldwide digital-ad spending could reach $605 billion next year, up from $424 billion in 2023.
Google’s ad-tech operation sits between publishers seeking to sell advertising space and marketers trying to reach online audiences, making the rules governing its platforms consequential across the digital advertising industry. Publishers using AdX pay a 20% fee when selling advertising through the exchange, according to Reuters.
The ruling gives Google substantial relief from the structural remedy sought by federal and state authorities while subjecting the company to years of court-mandated oversight and changes in how its advertising products interact.
Brinkema gave the parties 14 days to request redactions of confidential material from the written opinion and 30 days to submit a proposed final judgment incorporating the remedies, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters
Add as Preferred Source