Judge Rejects DOJ Bid to Force Sale of Google's AdX Advertising Exchange
A federal judge in Virginia has rejected the Justice Department's bid to force Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL, Financials) to sell AdX, its online advertising exchange.
The ruling does not erase Google's legal problems, as Judge Leonie Brinkema previously found that the company held illegal monopolies in publisher ad servers and ad exchanges and had unlawfully tied publishers to AdX.
Instead of ordering a breakup, Brinkema accepted most of the behavioral remedies proposed in the case. This means Google will still have to comply with certain restrictions on its advertising business.
The decision marks another setback for U.S. regulators trying to break up Big Tech companies after courts also rejected efforts involving Google's Chrome browser and Meta's Instagram and WhatsApp businesses.