Google Avoids AdX Sale as Judge Orders Ad-Tech Interoperability
TL;DR
- US District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected the Justice Department's bid to force Google to sell its AdX advertising exchange.
- The judge instead accepted most of the parties' proposed behavioral remedies, reported to include interoperability requirements between Google's ad-tech stack and rivals.
- The decision was issued under seal with a brief order; publishers pay Google a 20% fee to sell ads on AdX, and a redacted version will follow.
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia rejected the Justice Department's bid to force Google to sell its AdX advertising exchange, ordering behavioral remedies instead, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Brinkema "issued her decision under seal with a brief order"; a redacted version is expected later.
The judge "accepted most of the parties' proposed behavioral remedies," reported to include interoperability requirements meant to let rival ad-tech systems plug into Google's stack. She declined to force a sale of AdX, "where publishers pay Google a 20% fee to sell ads in auctions that happen instantly when users load websites," CNBC wrote.
The ruling closes the remedies phase of a case in which Brinkema found in April 2025 that Google "holds illegal monopolies on servers that host publisher ads and ad exchanges." Coverage described the outcome as "the second powerful symbolic victory against the U.S. Department of Justice" in its push to force Google to sell assets to address illegal monopolies. The ruling joins 257 AI regulation stories we've published since early June.
Originally reported by bloomberg.com
Read the original article →Original headline: US Judge Spares Google Ad-Exchange Sale, Orders Interoperability With Rival Ad-Tech