Google defeats US bid to force ad tech sale

On September 2, Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia denied the U.S. Department of Justice's request to force Google to sell its ad technology business, AdX. The ad exchange plays a relatively minor role in Google's overall business but this ruling marks a significant victory against U.S. antitrust efforts. The DOJ and multiple states had sued Google in 2023 over its dominance in advertising technology markets.

In April 2025, Brinkema found that Google's control over servers that host and exchange publisher ads constituted an illegal monopoly. The judge ruled that Google had illegally tied publishers to its ad server, AdX. Google argued a forced sale would be technically challenging and harmful to customers. However, the judge accepted much of what the parties proposed as behavioral remedies.

This is the third time in a row that a judge has blocked an attempt to break up a major tech company.