Report from the New York Times
In Brief – Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema, who ruled in 2025 that Google unlawfully monopolized technology tools used to connect online publishers with advertisers, has announced that her remedies ruling does not order Google to break up its advertising business. The Justice Department sought to force Google to sell its ad exchange and potentially other ad tech assets, while demanding that Google disclose its ad auction source code. Judge Brinkema rejected the breakup and source-code demands but said she had granted “most” proposed changes to Google’s practices. The full order won’t be made public until mid-September. Google, which is appealing Brinkema’s original decision, welcomed her rejection of a breakup, while the Justice Department said it was evaluating next steps. Analysts noted that the parts of Google’s AdTech business involved in the case generated about $30 billion last year, less than 10% of the company’s overall advertising revenue.
Context – Rapidly shifting and complex technology markets are tripping up the break-up dreams of Big Tech and antitrust policy critics. Judge Boasberg’s rejection of the FTC’s antitrust case against Meta hinged largely on his finding that TikTok and other short-video platforms had dismantled any social networking monopoly, while Judge Mehta’s refusal to order a Google breakup was based in part on his view that generative AI is rapidly transforming search competition. In this case, in the years since the DOJ complaint was filed, the display ad market at issue has shifted toward closed platforms like Amazon, Meta and TikTok, as well as AI-driven search, while Google’s web ad business has declined in importance relative to its search ads. Attention now shifts to Brussels, where the European Commission has hit Google with a $3.45 billion fine for similar AdTech practices, ordered Google to end self-preferencing practices and conflicts of interest, and indicated that “selling some part of its AdTech business” was likely needed. Following this US court decision, demanding a sale will add to US-EU friction.