US judge rejects DOJ bid to force Google to sell ad tech business

By Jody Godoy Source: Reuters

Overview

Alphabet's Google escaped a breakup of its advertising technology business on Wednesday, after a federal judge in Virginia rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) bid to force the sale of Google's online advertising exchange.

While the ad exchange represents a small portion of Google's overall business, the ruling marks the second significant symbolic victory for the company against the DOJ's efforts to compel asset sales as a remedy for illegal monopolies.

Key Ruling

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, sitting in Alexandria, Virginia, declined to order Google to sell AdX—the platform where publishers pay Google a 20% fee to sell ads in real-time auctions that occur instantly when users load websites. Instead, the judge accepted most of the behavioral remedies proposed by the parties.

Background of the Case

• The DOJ and a coalition of states sued Google in 2023 over its dominance in markets for advertising technology used by online publishers and websites.
• In April 2025, Judge Brinkema ruled that Google held illegal monopolies in:
• Servers that host publisher ads
• Ad exchanges that sit between buyers and sellers
• The judge found that Google unlawfully locked publishers using its ad server into also using AdX.
• Brinkema stated at the time that Google's anticompetitive conduct "substantially harmed Google's publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web."

Arguments at Trial

DOJ Position: At the remedies trial last year, the DOJ argued that Google could not be trusted to operate AdX fairly, given its past behavior.

Google's Position: Google argued that a forced sale would be technically difficult and would result in a long, painful transition that would harm customers. The company also highlighted that the DOJ's demand differed from Google's own previous offer to sell AdX to resolve an EU antitrust investigation, as reported by Reuters in 2024.

Financial Impact

According to Wedbush research and analysis of court documents, Ad Manager accounted for:

• 4.1% of Google's overall revenue in 2020
• 1.5% of Google's operating profit in 2020

More recent financial figures were redacted from court documents.

Broader Implications for U.S. Tech Antitrust Efforts

The ruling is the third consecutive instance in which a U.S. judge has rejected antitrust enforcers' attempts to break up a major technology company—a crackdown that began during President Donald Trump's first term. The decision is likely to raise questions about whether courts are equipped to address the unprecedented power of the tech industry over the U.S. economy.

Previous Rejections

1. Meta Platforms (Instagram and WhatsApp):

A federal judge in Washington last year rejected the Federal Trade Commission's attempt to force Meta to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, ruling that the agency failed to prove Meta holds a monopoly in a social media landscape that has shifted significantly since the case was filed in 2020.

1. Google (Chrome browser):

Another judge in Washington, who previously ruled that Google holds an illegal monopoly in online search, rejected the DOJ's bid to force the sale of Google's Chrome browser, citing rising competition from generative AI companies such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Pending Cases

U.S. antitrust cases against Amazon and Apple, which involve massive smartphone and online retail markets, are not expected to go to trial until 2027 at the earliest.

Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis