Google's Ad Tech Monopoly Gets Code of Conduct Remedy

Google's online ad dominance has been addressed through a code of conduct after a 17-month trial. The remedy was issued by Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, who ruled that Google had unfairly controlled both sides of the online ad market, steering money towards itself at publishers' expense.

The behavioral remedies imposed on Google include forcing it to open up and share data with rivals, stopping self-preferencing in its tools, and preventing its ad buying arm from gaming auctions for its own benefit.

However, some experts argue that these remedies may not effectively address the issue of Google's monopoly. Alan Chapell, a privacy expert, believes that Google is 'brilliant at playing the behavioral remedies game' and can use opaque tactics to circumvent rules.

The implementation of the remedy will take time, with Google given 12 months to open up AdX to rival ad servers and 12-15 months to connect AdX and DfP to Prebid. It's unclear when these changes will impact publishers' revenues or auction outcomes.