Google Ordered to Restructure Global Ad Business After Antitrust Violations

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has ordered Google to overhaul its online advertising business globally, ruling that the tech giant violated U.S. antitrust laws. The 106-page opinion mandates significant changes to Google's rules governing online advertising auctions, aiming to restore competition in the ad tech markets.

Last year, Brinkema found that Google had violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act by engaging in anticompetitive conduct to maintain its monopoly power in open-web display advertising. This market involves the ads that appear on web pages, providing crucial revenue for online publishers, including news organizations.

Google's practices, which involved controlling the platforms publishers use to sell ad space and the tools advertisers use to buy it, along with its AdX exchange, were found to have deprived rivals of the ability to compete and harmed publishers, the competitive process, and consumers. Historically, Google has taken a significant portion of the revenue from ads processed through this system.

To address these violations, Brinkema has outlined a series of "behavioral remedies." These include untying Google's ad server technology from its AdX exchange, meaning publishers using Google's ad server will no longer be required to also use AdX. The company must also increase data sharing, cease practices that lock publishers into its products, and end preferential bidding practices that favored itself.

Brinkema emphasized that allowing publishers to see real-time bids from AdX while using other ad servers would help restore competition. The ruling also establishes a Monitor and Technical Committee to oversee Google's compliance for six years, with the possibility of extension. Additionally, Google is required to appoint an internal antitrust compliance monitor.

"The court’s ruling in the Google ad tech case marks a significant victory for this department’s efforts to protect and restore competition," said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. The Department of Justice had initially sought for Google to divest AdX, but Brinkema determined that forcing a sale was "neither realistic nor needed," finding the proposed behavioral remedies sufficient.

Google has stated that it disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal. The company argued that the court should not impose an injunction operating outside U.S. borders, but Brinkema countered that global application would align with Google's current worldwide operations.

This case is part of a broader effort by the Department of Justice to regulate Big Tech. In parallel, publishers have filed class-action lawsuits alleging Google overcharged them for advertising technology services. The European Commission has also previously fined Google for antitrust breaches in the EU.

The trial, which began in 2023, heard testimony from various media organizations detailing how they were compelled to use Google's advertising technology, impacting their revenue. Brinkema's initial findings in 2023 concluded that Google's conduct had "substantially harmed" publishers and consumers.