U.S. Pursues Separation of Google’s Ad-Tech Services Following Court Ruling on Monopoly – One America News Network
By Reuters
May 6, 2025 – 3:19 AM PDT
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(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice has suggested that Google divest its AdX digital advertising marketplace and DFP platform, which manage and deliver ads on websites, following a federal judge’s ruling that the company illegally dominated two segments of the online ad technology market.
The proposed actions, including divestitures, aim to dismantle the monopolies held by Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.O) and restore competitive practices in both the ad-exchange and publisher ad-server sectors, according to a court document filed by the DOJ late Monday.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, located in Alexandria, Virginia, determined last month that Google exhibited “willful acquisition and maintenance of monopoly power” in these sectors. This decision marks another setback for Google, especially after a separate ruling last year indicating the company maintained an illegal monopoly in online search.
Brinkema has set a trial date for September after receiving input from both Google and the DOJ regarding possible solutions to the company’s control over ad tools utilized by online publishers.
Google has expressed support for measures that would allow competitors access to real-time bidding, but argues that prosecutors do not have the legal grounds to mandate the sale of its business units.
“The DOJ’s additional recommendations to enforce a divestiture of our ad tech tools surpass the findings of the Court, lack legal foundation, and could adversely impact publishers and advertisers,” stated Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, to Reuters.
Alphabet’s shares fell nearly 1.1% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
AdX, or Ad Exchange, functions as a marketplace allowing publishers to sell their unsold advertising space to advertisers in real-time. Publisher ad servers are platforms that help websites manage and organize their digital ad inventories.
In conjunction with ad exchanges, this technology enables news publishers and various online content creators to monetize their platforms by selling advertisements.
Last year, Google made significant strides toward resolving an antitrust investigation by the EU with a proposal to sell AdX; however, that proposal was deemed inadequate by European publishers.
Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan; additional reporting by Chandni Shah in Bangalore; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Mrigank Dhaniwala, Miyoung Kim
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