Google Avoids Ad Exchange Sale as Judge Orders Tech Integration

Alphabet Inc.’s Google doesn’t have to sell off its advertising exchange and instead must make its ad tech tools work with those operated by rivals, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, in a move that saves the tech giant from a second bid to force a breakup.

Judge Leonie Brinkema issued her decision under seal accompanied by a short order rejecting the Justice Department’s bid to force a sale of Google’s AdX. Instead, she ordered proposed behavioral changes to Google’s business without describing what those are. The redacted decision will be issued later.

Brinkema’s decision allows Google to avoid a forced sale after an April 2025 ruling that the company illegally monopolized two advertising technology markets. The Justice Department had asked Brinkema to force Google to sell its exchange and make public the auction logic that decides which advertisement will show on a website.