A US federal judge has ruled that Google will not be forced to sell its advertising exchange, AdX, as a remedy for its illegal monopoly in online advertising. This decision, handed down by US District Judge Leonie Brinkema, avoids a major structural breakup of Google's ad tech business, which the Justice Department had sought after Google lost an antitrust case in 2025. Instead, the judge ordered Google to implement behavioral changes to its ad tech tools, requiring them to work more effectively with rival platforms.
The specific details of these mandated behavioral changes remain under seal but are expected to involve measures that prevent Google from self-preferencing its own ad services and ensure greater access to real-time information for third-party ad tech tools. The DOJ had argued that forcing a sale of AdX was essential to level the competitive playing field, despite the ad exchange representing a relatively small portion of Google's overall revenue. This outcome marks a significant win for Google, as it avoids a divestiture that could have sent disruptive ripples through its broader advertising operations and set a precedent for other Big Tech antitrust cases.
Judge Brinkema had previously found that Google illegally monopolized the markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges, specifically by tying its DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) server with its AdX ad exchange in an anticompetitive manner. However, she concluded that the DOJ failed to prove Google monopolized advertiser-side tools. This ruling is the second time in recent years a federal judge has declined to dismantle part of Google's business, following a previous refusal to force the sale of its Chrome browser in a separate search monopoly case. The full details of the judge's opinion and the precise remedies will be released later this month after redaction of confidential information.
