A U.S. judge has decided against the Department of Justice’s attempt to compel Google to divest its advertising exchange, AdX, a crucial segment of its advertising technology operations. Judge Leonie Brinkema’s ruling allows Google to maintain control over AdX while implementing most of the suggested measures to regulate the company’s conduct. This follows a significant 2025 decision where Google was found to have unlawfully maintained monopolies in the sectors of publisher ad servers and advertising exchanges.
The Justice Department, alongside several U.S. states, contended that due to Google’s historical practices, it should be stripped of its control over AdX. In contrast, Google resisted the proposed divestiture, arguing that such a separation would be technically challenging and could potentially disrupt services for its customers.
This ruling marks another challenge for U.S. antitrust regulators in their efforts to dismantle major tech giants. Previous legal actions against other prominent technology firms have similarly struggled to achieve enforced asset sales, highlighting the difficulties faced by authorities in regulating the tech industry’s dominance.
With this decision, Google retains its advertising exchange operations, although it will be subject to behavioral restrictions. These measures are intended to alleviate concerns regarding competitive practices and how the company interacts with publishers.