A US federal judge on Wednesday refused to force Google to sell a division of its digital advertising business, rejecting the government's push to break up part of the company's ad empire. US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema opted instead for a set of rules governing how Google must operate in the ad market. This decision marks the second time in recent years that a federal judge has declined to dismantle a piece of Google's business, following a similar ruling last year regarding its Chrome browser.
The ruling is part of a broader effort by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to curtail the competitive dominance of big tech companies, including Apple, Amazon, and Meta. The results of these cases have been mixed, with some judges siding with the government and others rejecting their arguments. In this particular case, Judge Brinkema ruled last year that Google had willfully monopolized both the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets, and had unlawfully tied the two products together.
Google has indicated it will appeal the underlying liability ruling. The government's case portrayed Google as simultaneously controlling multiple sides of the digital advertising marketplace, owning the platform that publishers use to sell ads as well as the exchange where transactions occur, all while commanding huge advertiser demand. According to the Department of Justice, Google once compared this arrangement to Goldman Sachs owning the New York Stock Exchange.
Prosecutors had sought the sale of Google's ad auction site AdX and the open-sourcing of critical auction technology. Google characterized the proposed remedies as extreme government overreach that would harm publishers, advertisers, and consumers. The company also argued that splitting up the service would be technically unfeasible. At closing arguments last year, Brinkema questioned how long a forced sale would take and noted that no buyer for AdX had been identified.
Google's vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, expressed satisfaction with the court's decision. "We're very pleased the Court rejected the DOJ's proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow," she said in a statement. The reasoning behind today's decision was not immediately made public. Brinkema filed her opinion under seal for 14 days, leaving the details of how Google must change its ad business unknown for now. She gave the two sides 30 days to submit a joint proposed final judgment.
