Google's Ad Tech Business to Face Six Years of Oversight
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema has ruled that Google's ad tech business must be monitored for six years as part of the remedies for its anticompetitive conduct. The ruling, which was unsealed on Wednesday, requires Google to open its ad auctions to rivals and accept outside oversight. This is a significant development in the ongoing case against Google's ad tech business.
The judge rejected a demand to break up Google's AdX ad exchange, where publishers pay a 20% fee. However, she did require Google to connect AdX and its DFP ad server to Prebid, an open-source header-bidding framework that allows competing bids outside of Google's control.
The changes will last six years, as proposed by Google, instead of the 15 years sought by the Justice Department and the states that joined the case. The court can extend this period if the judgment has not achieved its goal.