Google should relax ad tech rules, appoint antitrust monitor, US judge finds

On September 16, a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia ruled that Google should modify its advertising technology regulations and appoint an internal antitrust compliance monitor. Judge Leonie Brinkema, however, did not mandate a breakup of Google's advertising business, unlike the U.S. Department of Justice's earlier demands.

The government had sought the dissolution of AdX, the platform where publishers pay a 20% fee for instant ad auctions when users visit websites. Brinkema accepted Google's proposal to eliminate the requirement that websites using its ad server also use its ad exchange, which generates revenue from instant auctions. Additionally, Google would cease practices that publishers found restrictive, limiting their ability to switch away from Google's ad tech tools.

The remedies, according to Brinkema, will effectively open up competition in the ad tech markets harmed by Google's unlawful actions and prevent the company from reverting to anticompetitive behavior. The changes must remain in place for six years, as opposed to the 15-year term initially sought by the Justice Department and various states that joined the lawsuit.

Google issued no immediate statement, and the Justice Department declined to comment further. Brinkema issued her final decision on September 2 but extended a 14-day window for both parties to request redactions of confidential information from her written ruling.