Judge Rejects DOJ's Bid to Force Google to Sell Ad Exchange
A U.S. District Judge in Virginia rejected the Department of Justice’s attempt to force Alphabet subsidiary Google to divest its ad exchange, AdX. The judge ruled that behavioral remedies proposed by both parties were sufficient and did not require a forced sale. This decision marks the second time a court has denied such an antitrust breakup effort against Google. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 with support from several states, focused on Google’s dominance over ad technology infrastructure used by web publishers. While the judge agreed that Google had monopolized key segments of the market and improperly tied its services together, she did not find divestiture necessary at this time. Google argued that selling AdX would be technically complex and disruptive to users, while also noting differences between a 2024 EU-related offer to sell ad tech assets and what was being demanded by U.S. regulators.
Tickers: $GOOG
Topics: ad tech monopoly AdX DOJ Google