A U.S. judge ruled in April 2025 that Google holds illegal monopolies on ad exchanges and servers that host publisher ads. While the DOJ proved to the court that Google acted illegally, the judge declined to order a divestiture of the company's ad exchange and other technology.
The court ordered an end to practices that depress ad rates for web publishers. Google must make its ad tech tools work with those operated by rivals and make changes to its ad tech business to handle antitrust issues, although the specific measures were not disclosed publicly.
The ruling is a win for the search giant, which has been under pressure in court cases. By avoiding the sale of its advertising exchange, Google is saved from a second bid to force a breakup.