Judge Rejects DOJ Bid To Break Up Google Ad-Tech Business

Google's online advertising business has been spared from a court-ordered breakup after a federal judge rejected the U.S. Justice Department's proposal to force the sale of its AdX advertising exchange. In a ruling that follows an April 2025 finding, Judge Leonie Brinkema accepted most of the parties' proposed behavioral remedies but did not order any structural changes such as divestiture or open-sourcing.

The DOJ had sought remedies including the divestiture of AdX, open-sourcing of DFP's final auction logic, and a potential divestiture of the remaining DFP business. However, the court rejected these proposals, marking the second major Google breakup proposal to be rejected by a U.S. court.

Google welcomed the latest ruling, while the DOJ said it was pleased that the court ordered substantial relief but declined to comment further on its next steps. The decision has significant implications for the tech industry and online advertising market.