U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has rejected a proposal to force Google to sell its AdX advertising exchange, while ordering the company to alter rules governing online ad auctions and submit to antitrust oversight.
In a 106-page decision unsealed on Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, Brinkema set remedies following her April 2025 finding that Google had maintained an illegal monopoly in parts of the online advertising technology market. The ruling closes a major case over the tools used to place advertising across the internet.
The U.S. Department of Justice and various states had pressed for a break-up of Google’s advertising technology business. They sought the sale of AdX, an exchange where publishers pay a 20% fee to sell advertising through auctions.
Brinkema declined to require that sale. Google had argued that a divestiture would make it harder for small businesses to reach customers.
Instead, the judge ordered changes to Google’s conduct. Google must ease rules governing its online advertising auctions, according to the decision. It also cannot require websites using its ad server to use AdX.
The company must also stop practices that publishers said had kept them tied to Google’s advertising technology tools. The decision does not set out further details on those practices or the full scope of the required changes.
Brinkema appointed an internal antitrust compliance monitor for Google’s advertising business. The monitor will oversee the company’s compliance with the remedies, which must stay in place for six years. The Justice Department and the states had sought a 15-year period.
Google said on Wednesday that it disagreed with Brinkema’s liability finding concerning its Google Ad Manager publishing tool and would appeal. The company did not prevail in its challenge to the underlying finding that it had illegally monopolised some online ad technology.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr described the ruling as a “significant victory” in the Justice Department’s work to protect and restore competition.
The case concerns a central part of Alphabet’s business. Advertising accounted for about 73% of Alphabet’s revenue last year. Annual global spending on digital advertising could rise to $605 billion next year, from $424 billion in 2023.
The decision leaves Google’s advertising business intact while placing limits on how it can operate its ad technology systems. It also gives the government less than it sought in the remedy phase, with no compulsory sale of AdX and a shorter compliance period than the one requested.
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