Google has yet again dodged a potentially business-splitting antitrust ruling, and gets to keep its ad-tech business intact after escaping the Department of Justice's push for a court-ordered breakup.
A federal judge has rejected the Justice Department's attempt to force Google to sell off major pieces of its advertising technology business. This spares the company from the most severe remedies suggested after it was found guilty of holding an illegal monopoly on the digital advertising market.
That doesn't mean there won't be corrective measures. The court announced that it has accepted most of the proposed behavioral remedies intended to curb the anticompetitive conduct.
However, what those remedies are remains to be seen, as they are sealed in an accompanying Memorandum Opinion. Google and the DOJ have 15 days to request redactions to the Memorandum Opinion.
The parties have 30 days to meet and confer to file one jointly proposed Final Judgment.
Breaking up is hard to do
In January 2023, the DOJ, along with eight states, sued Google, alleging that it had monopolized key parts of the digital advertising market. The argument was that Google used acquisitions and its ad-tech stack to put its competitors at a disadvantage.
The claim insisted that Google used its size and influence on both buyer and seller sides of the equation. As a result, it was able to raise the prices of ad spots, while also reducing the ability for competitors to take Google on.
In 2025, District Judge Brinkema ruled that Google was, in fact, a monopoly. The DOJ pushed for a structural breakup, insisting that the company break off Google Ad Manager and sell it to another company.
A forced sale of Google's ad-tech business could have benefited Apple as it expands its own advertising operation. The company recently began integrating advertising into its Apple Maps service.
