A US federal court has issued a ruling that has become landmark for the entire digital advertising industry and tech giants. Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected the US Department of Justice's demand for the forced sale of Google's AdX advertising exchange. Investors immediately reacted with a rise in Alphabet's stock price, seeing in this decision a weakening of antitrust pressure on the corporation.
The essence of the claims and the verdict
The litigation had dragged on since 2023, when the DOJ and several states accused Google of illegally monopolizing the ad tech market. According to the prosecution, the corporation artificially tied publishers to its AdX platform and charged a 20% commission on each transaction. In April 2025, Judge Brinkema agreed that the company's actions had harmed competitors and users of the open internet.
However, the final verdict turned out to be much milder than the plaintiff had demanded. Instead of the radical measure — the sale of AdX, which is technically complex and painful for clients — the court ordered adjustments to how Google's advertising services operate. In particular, this involves granting competitors broader access to auction bidding data. This is a structural, not punitive, decision.
Trend: regulators are retreating
This ruling fits into a broader trend. Earlier, another judge allowed Google to retain control over the Chrome browser. Similarly, regulators failed to break up Meta and divest Instagram and WhatsApp. Thus, US authorities have now lost three high-profile cases seeking the forced breakup of tech giants. This signals a high bar for applying such radical antitrust measures in the United States.
Notably, AdX's financial weight for Alphabet is not as significant as it might seem. With the company's total market capitalization at $4.08 trillion, this segment in 2020 generated only about 4.1% of revenue and 1.5% of operating profit. Nevertheless, for the market, this case was fundamental — it set the regulatory direction for the entire digital economy.
My view: This defeat for the DOJ is not just a victory for Google, but an important precedent that will cool the enthusiasm of other regulators eyeing digital monopolies. But don't be fooled: the main risks for Alphabet now lie not in US courts, but in European regulation and the artificial intelligence race, where the company's position still looks more vulnerable, and costs are rising, causing concern among shareholders.