Judge denies DOJ bid to force Google to sell AdX

A federal judge in Washington rejected the Department of Justice’s request to force Google to sell its AdX ad‑exchange platform, allowing the company to keep the tool but requiring it to make significant changes to how it operates. The ruling, issued on Wednesday by Judge Leonie Brinkema, comes after a 2023 lawsuit that accused Google of monopolising two key ad‑tech markets. While the judge denied the DOJ’s demand that AdX be broken up, she accepted a package of undisclosed “behavioral remedies” that Google and the government offered. Those remedies involve opening up AdX’s technology to rival firms, giving publishers and advertisers more choice.

The lawsuit, filed by the DOJ and eight states, claimed that Google’s dominance in the ad‑sales technology market—estimated at 87% of the market—allowed it to charge higher fees and steer a larger share of advertising revenue to its own services. AdX, which lets publishers sell unused web‑page ad space in real time, takes a 20 percent cut from each transaction. In April of last year, Judge Brinkema ruled that Google had violated antitrust law by forcing publishers that host ads on the company’s servers to use AdX, effectively locking them into Google’s ecosystem. The DOJ’s proposal to force a sale was a follow‑up attempt to undo that arrangement, but the judge found the sale was not the best remedy.

Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee‑Anne Mulholland, said the company was pleased the court rejected the DOJ’s proposal to dismantle the tools that help small businesses reach new customers. She added that the behavioral remedies would preserve the benefits of AdX while addressing the antitrust concerns. The judge’s decision was issued under seal, giving both sides time to review the ruling and prepare any appeals or further negotiations. Meanwhile, the European Union fined Google $3.5 billion last September for giving its ad‑tech products preferential treatment, and a separate district judge ruled that Google would not have to sell Chrome after previously finding it held a monopoly in online search.

If the DOJ and Google do not agree on the behavioral remedies, the case could move into an appeal phase, potentially leading to a higher court review. The outcome will shape the future of the ad‑tech landscape, as publishers and advertisers weigh the benefits of a single, powerful platform against the need for competition and choice. For now, AdX will remain in Google’s portfolio, but it must adapt to a more open, regulated framework that promises to reduce the company’s market‑controlling power while still providing the real‑time ad‑sales service that publishers rely on.