A U.S. federal judge has imposed antitrust remedies on Google, requiring the company to loosen restrictions and operate under an antitrust compliance monitor for six years. The ruling, made by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia, aims to restore competition in the open-web display publisher ad-server and ad-exchange markets.
The Justice Department had asked the court for a structural fix that would force Google to sell its AdX exchange. Judge Leonie Brinkema declined that request, reasoning that altering Google’s operating practices could give rival ad-tech firms adequate entry.
Among the most significant requirements, Google must support integrations between AdX and Prebid and between DFP and Prebid, while AdX will also be required to submit real-time bids to competing publisher ad servers. These steps aim to diminish the technical edge Google enjoys by controlling several layers of the ad-tech stack.
Publishers must also be able to access and export their own data from Google’s DFP and AdX systems, making it easier to change technology providers. Google’s AdWords business will be prohibited from favouring AdX or other Google-owned ad-tech tools because of their common ownership, and AdWords will not be permitted to bid directly into DFP.
Brinkema also ordered the appointment of a monitor and technical committee to oversee Google’s compliance. The oversight will span six years and involve court-directed supervision of the implementation, though it is less expansive than the monitoring framework the Justice Department had sought.
The case, United States et al. v. Google LLC, number 1:23-cv-00108, was brought by the Department of Justice and a group of U.S. states under the Sherman Act. Brinkema concluded that Google breached Section 2 by obtaining and preserving monopoly dominance in two advertising-technology markets and improperly tied its publisher ad server to its exchange, violating both Sections 1 and 2.
Google has stated it contests the liability finding related to Google Ad Manager and plans to challenge the decision on appeal. The company argues that forcing a sale would have hurt publishers and advertisers, particularly smaller firms that rely on its bundled advertising solutions.
The Justice Department called the court’s remedial order a major win, noting the importance of the interoperability, data-exchange and nondiscrimination provisions. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. indicated that the department is examining the opinion and weighing further legal actions.
The ruling leaves Google in control of AdX but subjects the business to intended to reduce the advantages created by ownership of multiple parts of the advertising technology stack. For competition lawyers and in-house counsel, the decision is notable for the court’s choice of interoperability, data access and court-supervised monitoring rather than divestiture as the mechanism for addressing an established technology-market monopoly.
