Overview
- Judge Leonie Brinkema on Wednesday refused the Department of Justice’s request to force the sale of AdX, Google’s online advertising exchange, while issuing new rules to change how the company operates its ad systems.
- The court instead imposed behavioral remedies that require Google to reconfigure its ad-technology stack so publishers and rival ad platforms can connect and compete with Google’s tools.
- The full opinion is under seal for 14 days so the parties can propose redactions, which means the exact technical steps and enforcement details are not yet public.
- The DOJ had sought a forced sale of AdX and the publication of parts of Google’s auction code, but the judge rejected those structural and code-publication demands and accepted most behavioral changes with modifications.
- The ruling follows earlier findings that Google holds illegal monopolies in search and parts of digital advertising and raises questions about whether rules, not breakups, will be enough to restore competition and help publishers and rivals.