Having already ruled that Google illegally monopolized open-web digital advertising markets, a federal court is now working through the far more contentious question of remedies. The Justice Department's core demand is that Google divest AdX, its ad exchange, arguing the company subverted competition over roughly 15 years through acquisitions and auction manipulation that neutralized rival ad tech vendors. The government has also floated open-sourcing Google's ad server code and, potentially, divesting the ad server itself.
Google has pushed back hard against structural remedies, proposing instead a package of contract modifications and mandated interoperability with competing ad servers that it says could be implemented within about a year, versus the DOJ's proposed rollout of up to 14 years. Court watchers who followed closing arguments say Judge Leigh Brinkema appeared to lean away from an immediate breakup, signaling interest in hard conduct remedies — interoperability mandates, bans on self-preferencing, and independent compliance monitoring — while keeping structural divestiture available if Google fails to comply.
Post-trial briefing is set to wrap by early November, with closing arguments following in mid-to-late November and a ruling expected sometime in 2026. The outcome will shape not just Google's business but the broader template for how U.S. courts handle future monopolization cases against dominant tech platforms, at a moment when the DOJ and FTC have made Big Tech antitrust enforcement a sustained priority across multiple administrations.
