Overview

• Google’s legal brief says the open web is already in rapid decline and argues that a court-ordered divestiture would accelerate the downturn and harm publishers reliant on open‑web display revenue.
• The filing targets proposed remedies in the DOJ’s ad‑tech case that would force Google to divest its ad exchange (AdX) and publisher ad server (DFP).
• Google’s VP of Global Ads, Dan Taylor, said the language was about open‑web display advertising rather than the entire web, a point a company spokesperson also emphasized in press comments.
• The position drew attention because it follows public remarks this spring from Sundar Pichai and Nick Fox asserting the web is thriving and recent defenses of AI features alongside claims that overall click volume has stayed relatively stable.
• Google’s brief attributes declining open‑web display spend to market shifts, citing AI’s transformation of ad tech and the growth of Connected TV and retail media, and warns that divestiture would push advertisers to move budgets away even faster, especially hurting smaller publishers.