Google Escapes Ad Tech Breakup in DOJ Case
Google has won a significant victory in its antitrust case against the Department of Justice (DOJ), as Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected the DOJ's push to force a divestiture of AdX, Google's advertising exchange.
The judge accepted most of the proposed behavioral remedies, including measures pushing Google's ad tools to work with rivals' tools. However, she turned down structural relief, including the sale of AdX and opening-source the final auction logic behind Google's publisher platform.
Google had argued that a forced sale would be technically difficult and produce a long, painful transition that would hurt customers. The company welcomed the outcome, saying 'We're very pleased the Court rejected the DOJ's proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow.'