Google Gets Reprieve from Antitrust Ruling Despite Ad-Tech Monopoly

A federal court has ruled that Google broke antitrust law in its handling of the ad-tech market, but the tech giant will not have to sell off any part of its advertising technology business.

The ruling, which was unsealed on Wednesday, requires Google to make parts of its ad-tech systems work with rival products and give publishers more information about its ad auctions. This includes making its products interoperable with competing technologies and sharing additional auction data with publishers.

US District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema concluded that divestiture was 'neither realistic nor needed' after finding last year that Google had violated antitrust law in the ad-tech market. Instead, the ruling calls for changes to how Google's advertising tools operate.

The remedies are aimed at Google's role in the market for ads sold on third-party websites, including news and entertainment sites. The Justice Department argued that Google used its position to protect its market control and take a larger share of ad sales than it could in a more competitive system.