Google Spared From Breakup as Judge Orders Changes to Digital Ads Business

A federal judge has ordered Google to retool its digital ads business, but spared it from a breakup that was sought by the U.S. government.

The decision by Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia comes after she declared Google's search engine as an illegal monopoly last year and rejected the Justice Department's proposal to break up its Chrome web browser.

Google has argued that breaking up its ad technology would be unduly harsh, citing the complexity of the network that distributes ads relied upon by online publishers. The company warned that even with changes, it could still find ways to manipulate algorithms and maintain its monopolies.