Google Forced to Open Its Auctions, But Not Broken Up

A federal judge has ruled against breaking up Google's ad tech business, but ordered the company to open its auctions to rivals and make significant changes to its operations.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected the Department of Justice's request for a structural breakup of Google's advertising business, instead ordering behavioral remedies that will force the company to change how it operates.

The ruling comes after a long-running case against Google, which was found to have illegally monopolized two separate ad tech markets. The company will now be required to build real API integrations connecting its AdX and DFP platforms to Prebid, an open-source header bidding project used by rival exchanges.

This means that AdX bids must go to rival publisher ad servers on the same terms as DFP, and Google will have to share bid win and loss data with publishers. The company will also be barred from requiring publishers who use DFP to also use AdX.

While some see this as a victory for Google, others believe it could ultimately lead to more competition in the ad tech market. 'Forced interoperability doesn't undo the market share Google has already built,' said one expert. 'It does mean that Google's own exchange has to compete for placement on equal footing with exchanges it's been out-competing by rule rather than by price.'