Google Dodges DOJ Bid To Break Up Ad-Tech Business

(RTTNews) - Alphabet's Google (GOOG) has avoided a court-ordered breakup of its online advertising business after a federal judge rejected the U.S. Justice Department's proposal to force the sale of its AdX advertising exchange.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema instead accepted most of the parties' proposed behavioral remedies, although the specific details remain sealed for 14 days to allow for redactions.

The ruling follows Brinkema's April 2025 finding that Google unlawfully maintained monopolies in publisher ad servers and ad exchanges, including by tying its AdX exchange to its publisher ad-server business.

The DOJ had sought structural remedies including divestiture of AdX, open-sourcing of DFP's final auction logic and a potential divestiture of the remaining DFP business. The court rejected those proposals.

The decision marks the second major Google breakup proposal rejected by a U.S. court. In 2025, a separate judge declined to require Alphabet to spin off Chrome and Android as remedies for its search monopoly, while ordering other changes to its search practices.

Google welcomed the latest ruling, while the DOJ said it was pleased that the court ordered substantial relief and that it was evaluating its next steps.