Google Ordered to Change Ad Auction Rules Amid Monopoly Allegations
A US federal judge has ordered Google to change its ad auction rules after finding that the tech giant had an illegal monopoly over online advertising technology. In a decision released on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected the Department of Justice's (DOJ) request to force Google to break up its ad tech business.
The judge ruled that structural remedies were not necessary and that behavioral remedies would be sufficient to 'effectively pry open to competition' the ad tech markets. Google will be barred from engaging in certain behaviors, including enforcing policies that tie its publisher-side platform, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), to its ad exchange platform, AdX.
The company must also make both platforms interoperable with header bidding software and provide publishers with data from both AdX and DFP. Additionally, Google's advertiser-side platform, AdWords, will be barred from prioritizing the company's own products.