Judge Rejects Google AdX Sale, Leaving 20% Fee Exchange Intact
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 2
Judge Rejects Google AdX Sale, Leaving 20% Fee Exchange Intact
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 2
Summary
Leonie Brinkema refused to force Google to sell AdX, the ad exchange at the center of the DOJ’s proposed breakup, and instead adopted mostly behavioral remedies.
AdX charges publishers a 20% fee to sell ads in instant auctions, but Brinkema accepted Google’s argument that a divestiture would be technically difficult and risk a painful transition for customers.
The ruling leaves intact Brinkema’s 2025 finding that Google illegally monopolized publisher ad servers and ad exchanges by locking publishers using its ad server into AdX.
Ad Manager made up 4.1% of Google revenue and 1.5% of operating profit in 2020, and the decision marks a third straight court rejection of US efforts to break up Big Tech.
That streak is likely to sharpen doubts about whether courts will order structural remedies against dominant tech platforms before antitrust cases against Amazon and Apple reach trial in 2027 or later.