Google Declared Monopolist but Keeps Dominant Position

Google has been declared an illegal monopolist in its publisher ad tech business but will not have to divest AdX, the exchange at the center of this market. Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected the Justice Department's request for divestiture, instead opting for behavioral remedies that require Google to interoperate more fairly with competitors.

The decision is seen as a strange feat in antitrust history, where a company is declared a monopolist but gets to keep its monopoly intact. Google will face requirements that its ad tech products interoperate more fairly with competitors, which may shift spend towards independent platforms and give publishers genuine alternatives.

Some argue that behavioral remedies are not enough to address the issues at hand, as they require someone to police the behavior of a giant like Google. Others point out that divestiture would have fundamentally changed the competitive geometry of ad tech by separating AdX from Google's publisher ad server.

The decision has been met with disappointment from those who had hoped for more significant changes to be made. As one expert noted, antitrust remedies are supposed to restore competition after illegal monopolization has been established, but in this case, the court appears to have chosen not to rock the boat.