Google Escapes Breakup but Faces Behavioral Changes
US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema has rejected the Justice Department's request to force Google to sell off parts of its ad tech business. Instead, she will adopt most of the behavioral changes proposed by the parties with some modifications. These remedies aim to restore competition to markets that Google was found to have illegally monopolized for years.
The DOJ successfully argued that Google had illegally tied together its publisher ad server, Doubleclick for Publishers (DFP), and AdX ad exchange in an anticompetitive manner. However, Brinkema found that the DOJ failed to prove Google had illegally monopolized a market for advertiser-side tools.
Google can now decide to appeal Brinkema's underlying decision ruling it an illegal ad tech monopoly. The company has been the subject of antitrust backlash under both Democratic and Republican administrations.