Judge Brinkema Rejects 3 DoJ Breakup Demands Against Google Ad Tech
Updated
Updated · Computerworld · Sep 8
Judge Brinkema Rejects 3 DoJ Breakup Demands Against Google Ad Tech
3 articles · Updated · Computerworld · Sep 8
Summary
Brinkema denied the Justice Department’s bid to force Google to sell AdX, open-source DoubleClick for Publishers’ auction logic, or divest DFP, leaving the company’s ad-tech structure intact.
A 2025 ruling had already found Google illegally maintained monopolies in publisher ad servers and ad exchanges and unlawfully tied the two products, but the remedies order opts for behavioral fixes instead of structural breakup.
30 days is the deadline for Google and the plaintiffs to submit a joint final judgment; Brinkema’s memorandum remains sealed while confidential information is redacted, so the exact obligations are still unknown.
Google called the ruling a win, while the DoJ said the court ordered substantial relief; advocacy groups argued the decision leaves Google’s monopoly power largely untouched.
Google still controls both its exchange and publisher ad-server businesses, and its scale remains vast—advertising revenue reached $81.6 billion in its last reported quarter.