Google Avoids Ad-Tech Breakup As Judge Rejects DOJ Divestiture Demand

Google will not be forced to break up its digital advertising technology business after a federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s request for the company to sell its AdX advertising exchange.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema instead approved behavioral remedies intended to address Google’s conduct in online advertising markets. The court’s decision allows the technology company to retain AdX while requiring changes to how parts of its advertising system operate. Reuters reported that Brinkema accepted most of the behavioral remedies proposed by the parties.

The ruling, issued Wednesday, September 2, resolves the remedies phase of the Justice Department’s 2023 ad-technology lawsuit. Brinkema previously found in April 2025 that Google had unlawfully maintained monopolies in markets for publisher ad servers and advertising exchanges.

Judge Rejects Forced Sale Of Google AdX

The Justice Department sought an order requiring Google to divest AdX, the company’s advertising exchange through which publishers sell digital advertising space in real-time auctions.

Government attorneys argued that behavioral restrictions would not be sufficient to restore competition. Google opposed the proposed sale, maintaining that separating AdX from its broader advertising infrastructure would be technically difficult and disruptive to publishers and advertisers.

Brinkema declined to order the divestiture and opted for changes to Google’s business conduct. The complete details of those remedies were not immediately available because the judge’s written opinion will remain under seal for 14 days, allowing the parties to identify and redact confidential information.

Google presented the rejection of the breakup request as a favorable outcome.

“We’re very pleased the Court rejected the DOJ’s proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president for regulatory affairs, said in a statement.

The Justice Department also welcomed the court’s decision to impose restrictions on Google, saying it was pleased that “substantial relief” had been ordered. The department said it was reviewing its next steps.

Court Previously Found Google Held Two Ad-Tech Monopolies

Brinkema’s April 2025 liability ruling found that Google unlawfully controlled two important parts of the open-web advertising system: publisher ad servers, which help websites manage available advertising space, and ad exchanges, which connect buyers and sellers during automated auctions.

The court determined that Google had tied its DoubleClick for Publishers ad server—now part of Google Ad Manager—to AdX in ways that restricted competition and made it difficult for publishers to use competing services.

However, the government did not prove its separate allegation that Google had monopolized the market for advertiser-focused buying tools.

The distinction is important because the ad-technology case does not primarily concern Google’s agreements to remain the default search engine on devices. Those agreements were examined in a separate federal antitrust lawsuit concerning Google Search.

Google Also Avoided Chrome Sale In Search Case

In the separate search-monopoly case, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled in September 2025 that Google would not have to sell its Chrome browser or Android operating system.

Mehta instead prohibited certain exclusive distribution arrangements and ordered Google to provide qualified competitors with access to specified search data and syndication services. Google has appealed the underlying monopoly judgment and the remedies imposed in that case.

Brinkema’s latest decision means Google has now avoided court-ordered divestitures in both major Justice Department antitrust cases. The company must nevertheless comply with behavioral restrictions addressing its search and advertising practices while the respective cases continue through the appeals process.