Google Spared Breakup in Ad Monopoly Case
A federal judge has rejected the U.S. government's proposal to break up Google's digital advertising business, but ordered the company to retool its system to address antitrust concerns.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema made the decision in a two-page ruling, which will remain under seal for 14 days to allow parties to review and propose redactions.
The Justice Department had argued that Google's dominance in digital advertising was an illegal monopoly, and sought to force the company to sell parts of its ad technology. However, Judge Brinkema agreed with Google that breaking up the complex network that distributes ads would be unduly harsh.
Google's vice president for regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said the company was 'pleased' with the ruling, which she described as a rejection of the DOJ's proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers.