US Judge Rules: Google (GOOGL.US) Should Relax Ad Tech Rules and Appoint Internal Antitrust Compliance Supervisors

Zhitong Finance App learned that a US federal judge said that Google (GOOGL.US) should relax its online advertising bidding rules and appoint an internal antitrust compliance supervisor, but the company was not required to split its advertising technology business. At the same time, Google was clearly required to work with the US Department of Justice to draw up a final judgment plan.

U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema (Leonie M. Brinkema) of Alexandria, Virginia, gave this opinion in a 106-page ruling that lifted restrictions on confidentiality on Wednesday. Brinckma said that Google should improve some commercial practices, despite her ruling in April 2025, Google maintains an illegal monopoly position in some fields of online advertising technology. Brinckma wrote that these remedies “will be sufficient to effectively open up ad technology markets damaged by Google's illegal actions to competition and prevent Google from resuming anti-competitive behavior in these markets.”

US Deputy Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. (Stanley Woodward Jr.) said in a statement that the ruling was a “major victory” in the Department of Justice's efforts to “protect and restore competition.” He said the Justice Department is reviewing this opinion to evaluate its legal options.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice in 2023. In April 2025, Brincma determined that Google had an illegal monopoly in two markets for open online digital advertising technology. The Ministry of Justice then proposed a structural rectification plan, including requiring Google to sell businesses such as the advertising trading platform AdX. AdX is an advertising trading platform owned by Google. It is used to connect advertising demand parties with advertising resource providers such as websites. It is one of the core advertising technology products involved in this case.

The US Department of Justice previously believed that Google simultaneously controls advertiser tools, website ad servers, and advertising trading platforms, so that it can use links between different products to consolidate its market position. The Ministry of Justice accuses Google of weakening competition by acquiring competitors, limiting demand for advertisements, and adjusting the advertising bidding mechanism.

The rectification plan proposed by the Ministry of Justice in 2025 also includes requiring Google's advertiser-side tools to treat third-party advertising technology products fairly in terms of bidding, ad matching, and information provision, and restricting Google from prioritizing advertising demand to its own advertising trading platforms. The relevant measures were originally proposed to last at least 10 years.

This ruling mainly deals with how to carry out rectification, rather than rejudging whether Google forms a monopoly. In the end, the court did not adopt a plan requiring Google to sell the advertising business, but instead took behavioral measures to demand that Google change the relevant business methods. This includes arrangements such as opening real-time bid visits to competitors. The ruling exempted Google from splitting its core advertising business — which contributed about 73% of Google's revenue last year.

This case is not the same as the Google search antitrust case. In 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia determined that Google unlawfully maintained a monopoly position in the general search and search advertising market. In September 2025, the rectification ruling in this case did not require Google to sell the Chrome browser or Android system, but instead prohibited it from signing partial exclusive distribution agreements and required the provision of some search data and search advertising services to competitors.