Judge Rejects DOJ Call to Split Google’s Ad Tech Operations

In a recent ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema declined the Justice Department’s bid to require Google to sell off segments of its ad-tech portfolio, choosing instead to impose behavioral fixes to restore competition. She concurred that Google illegally tied its Doubleclick for Publishers server with the AdX exchange, stifling rivals, but found the DOJ had not proven a monopoly in advertiser-side tools. The judge will adopt most of the behavioral proposals offered by the parties, with modifications, though the specifics will be sealed until the parties finalize revisions.

Possible requirements include prohibiting self-preferencing in ad auctions and allowing third-party tools equal access to real-time bidding data. Google retains the option to appeal the underlying finding of an illegal monopoly, mirroring its earlier appeal in a separate search-market case. This ruling wraps up the district-court stage of the third major antitrust case the federal government has launched against Google, following earlier actions against Meta, Amazon and Apple.