Google escapes ad tech breakup in third Big Tech antitrust loss for US

Alphabet's Google avoided a breakup of its advertising technology business, as a Virginia judge dismissed a U.S. antitrust case seeking to force the sale of Google's online advertising exchange. The ruling, handed down by Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, is the third instance in a row where a judge has thwarted the U.S. Department of Justice's attempts to break up Big Tech.

The DOJ and a coalition of states had sued Google in 2023, alleging the company's dominance in the advertising technology market harmed publishers and consumers. The judge rejected the DOJ's proposal to sell AdX, a platform where publishers pay Google a 20% fee for ads, and instead approved several behavioral remedies. This loss is the latest in a series of setbacks for U.S. antitrust enforcers in their push to regulate Big Tech, raising questions about the courts' ability to curb the industry's immense power.