To Repair Google's Ad Monopoly, Court Leaves Google In Charge Of The Parts

ALEXANDRIA—Google will be permitted to keep the advertising exchange the government wanted it to sell, ensuring that repairs to its advertising business can proceed under familiar management. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected a forced sale of AdX on September 2 while accepting most of the parties’ proposed behavioral remedies.

The distinction is worth preserving. Google has not been cleared of the underlying monopoly findings. Brinkema ruled in April 2025 that it unlawfully maintained monopolies in publisher ad servers and ad exchanges, including by tying publishers using its server to AdX. Wednesday concerned what to do about that conduct, not whether it occurred.

The Justice Department sought a change of ownership. Google argued that separating the exchange would be technically difficult and disruptive for customers. This gives successful integration an admirable second career: after helping keep a business together, it can explain why taking the business apart would be a problem.

Reuters reports that publishers pay Google a 20 percent fee to sell ads through AdX’s automated auctions. The exchange is infrastructure between a website and its advertisers, rather than a decorative addition to either. For publishers, the practical test is whether the ordered changes produce meaningful choices within that infrastructure.

That test still lies ahead. A remedy can matter without a breakup, and retaining the assets does not cancel the obligations. Google leaves this stage with both its business and instructions for improving its behavior. The government has successfully established that the two require supervision.