Google Escapes Antitrust Crackdown with Rejected AdX Sale Demand

Google has escaped a breakup of its advertising technology business after a judge in Virginia rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to force a sale of AdX, Google's online advertising exchange.

The ruling is the second powerful symbolic victory against the DOJ in its efforts to break up Big Tech companies. In April 2025, Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google holds illegal monopolies on servers that host publisher ads and ad exchanges, which sit between buyers and sellers.

The DOJ had argued that a forced sale would be technically difficult and result in a long and painful transition for customers, while Google claimed it couldn't trust the company to run AdX after its past behavior. The judge accepted most of the parties' proposed behavioral remedies.