Google avoids ad tech breakup in monopoly case

In the final phase of the Google ad tech monopoly saga at the district court, Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google does not have to sell its ad exchange, AdX.

In an order issued on Wednesday, Brinkema rejected structural remedies, including “the divestiture of AdX, the open-sourcing of DFP’s final auction logic, and the contingent divestiture of DFP Remainder.”

Instead, Brinkema accepted “most” of the parties’ proposed behavioral remedies “as modified by this court,” but did not elaborate. Additional detail on the behavioral remedies is expected when the court unseals its order, which is expected within the next two weeks.

The decision comes nearly a year and a half after Brinkema ruled that Google illegally maintained a monopoly in two open-web display ad markets, and nearly 10 months after lawyers for the company and the U.S. Department of Justice presented closing arguments in the remedies phase of the case.

Brinkema ordered that both parties file a jointly proposed final judgment within 30 days, “reflecting the decisions and modifications imposed in the accompanying Memorandum Opinion and resolving any still-disputed issues.”

The DOJ had sought structural remedies, including the forced divestiture of AdX, arguing that behavioral remedies alone would be insufficient. DOJ lawyer Matthew Huppert had asserted that Google would “test boundaries every step of the way” if behavioral remedies were implemented.

But Brinkema, during the closing arguments in November, seemed skeptical of that approach, raising concerns over how quickly structural remedies could be implemented.

Google had countered with a proposal limited to behavioral remedies, including offering real-time bid data to rival publisher ad servers. Google attorney Karen Dunn had argued there was “no evidence there would be a buyer” for AdX and that, if it were divested, “customer migration would take years.”

This ad tech remedies ruling echoes the outcome of Google’s separate search monopoly case. There, another federal judge ruled for imposed behavioral remedies last year, including that Google had to share some search data with “qualified competitors,” but did not have to sell its Chrome browser.