Google's Digital Advertising Monopoly Left Intact by Federal Judge

A federal judge has ruled that Google's digital advertising monopoly will not be broken up, sparking criticism from tech watchdogs who call it an 'embarrassing capitulation.'

In a 106-page decision, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered Google to share more data about its ad auctions with publishers and appoint an independent antitrust monitor. However, the company will retain control of its AdX marketplace, where it extracts a 20% fee from online ad sales.

The ruling comes after Brinkema found that Google's conduct 'substantially harmed' publishers and constituted an illegal monopoly in April 2025. Despite this, she rejected the Justice Department's request for a forced breakup of Google's online empire.

Critics argue that the remedies will not effectively address Google's anticompetitive conduct, while others see it as a victory for the company's dominance in the digital advertising market.