EU Alone on Google Ad Tech Breakup Demand After US Judge Rejects Order

The European Commission is now alone in demanding Google break up its advertising business. A US judge has declined to order Google to divest parts of its advertising business, leaving the Commission as the only regulator still arguing for a breakup.

This decision comes after the Commission fined Google €2.95bn last year for monopolising digital advertising. The fine was accompanied by the statement that a divestment appeared to be the only way to resolve the conflict of interest.

The US judge, Leonie Brinkema, concluded that a structural divestment was not necessary to remedy the liability she had found. This decision leaves the Commission isolated in its demand for a breakup.