US Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, declined
to make Google sell AdX.
| Photo Credit:
CARLOS JASSO
Alphabet’s Google escaped a
breakup of its advertising technology business on Wednesday,
when a judge in Virginia rejected US antitrust enforcers’ bid
to force a sale of Google’s online advertising exchange.
While the ad exchange is a small part of Google’s business,
the ruling is a powerful symbolic victory that puts the tech
titan at 2-0 against the US Department of Justice’s efforts to
force Google to sell assets to address illegal monopolies.
US Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, declined
to make Google sell AdX, where publishers pay Google a 20 per cent fee
to sell ads in auctions that happen instantly when users load
websites. She accepted most of the parties’ proposed behavioral
remedies.
Published on September 2, 2026
