US Judge Denies DOJ Request to Force Google Ad Exchange Sale

A US federal judge has ruled that Google will not have to sell its advertising exchange, dealing a blow to the Department of Justice's efforts to rein in the tech giant's market power.

The court found that Google had illegally locked publishers into its exchange, but did not find the tools used by advertisers to be unlawful. This decision marks a significant victory for Google, as it was one of three American antitrust cases brought against the company that sought to force it to sell its advertising exchange.

In contrast, the European Commission fined Google €2.95 billion last September for self-preferencing across the adtech stack and had made clear that only divestment of part of its services would address the situation.