Google's Monopoly Ruling Reversed in Antitrust Battle

A US District Court judge has ruled that Google will not have to break up its ad business as a result of an April ruling declaring it a monopoly. The US Department of Justice wanted Google to sell off AdX and DoubleClick, the foundations of its market-leading ad exchange.

Last week, Meta similarly sidestepped an overhaul: the tech and advertising giant reached a $17 billion settlement with 47 states that alleged its addictive design features harmed teens.

Google's monopoly ruling set the stage for a wave of major antitrust enforcement, but this week's ruling suggests a shakeup may not come to pass, or at least will be a slow roll. Global regulatory efforts like the General Data Protection Regulation have led to fines such as TikTok's $600 million penalty.

Other regional regulations pose more meaningful changes, California may pass a bill ending video autoplay on social platforms, but trust-busting is stalling. Google's share of search ad revenues is waning somewhat, falling below 50% this year as pressure from Amazon and Walmart mounts.