Judge allows Google to avoid breakup in win against DOJ

A federal judge has allowed Google to keep its digital advertising exchange marketplace, marking another win for the Big Tech giant as it fends off antitrust lawsuits from the federal government.In the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled on Wednesday that Google does not have to sell off AdX, the company’s ad exchange. Brinkema, who ruled in April 2025 that Google acted illegally as a monopoly when it built AdX and tied it to its ad server, did require Google to make “behavioral remedies” to its AdX platform.The Justice Department and several states sued Google, arguing its space in the advertising technology market constituted a monopoly. The plaintiffs had asked the court to order Google to sell off AdX, but Brinkema opted against this, ordering the company to make behavioral remedies instead. Brinkema filed her detailed memorandum opinion under seal to give the parties time to redact sensitive information from the opinion before it is released publicly. The court held a remedies trial in the case in 2025, in which Google argued that the lengthy process of a divestment from AdX would ultimately hurt consumers.Both the DOJ and Google celebrated Brinkema’s order, each for different reasons.“The Antitrust Division is pleased that the court ordered substantial relief in the Google Ad Tech case,” the DOJ’s Antitrust Division said in a statement. “We are one step closer to restoring competition and bringing relief for the American people in online advertising markets. The Department is evaluating appropriate next steps.”Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s global regulatory affairs head, touted the order for not forcing the company to sell off AdX.“We’re very pleased the Court rejected the DOJ’s proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow,” Mulholland said to the Associated Press.APPLE MAPS FOLLOWS GOOGLE IN ADOPTING TRUMP’S ‘LAKE AMERICA’ REBRANDGoogle has also been fending off another antitrust lawsuit over the past few years aimed at its Chrome web browser.Last September, Washington, D.C., District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, ruled that Google did not have to sell off Chrome or its Android operating system, but she barred the company from participating in exclusive contracts.