Judge Rejects Forced Sale of Google Ad Exchange

A federal judge has rejected the Justice Department's request to force Google to sell its advertising exchange, AdX, despite finding the company illegally maintained monopolies in the digital ad market. The ruling, issued on September 3, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, instead orders Google to implement behavioral changes to its business practices. The decision marks the third time in recent years that a federal court has found a major technology company liable for antitrust violations but stopped short of ordering a corporate breakup. The case stems from a lawsuit filed in 2023 by the Justice Department and a coalition of states, which accused Google of illegally monopolizing the technologies used to buy and sell online ads. In April 2025, Judge Brinkema ruled that Google had unlawfully maintained monopolies in two key markets: publisher ad servers and ad exchanges. She found that Google tied its publisher ad server, formerly known as DoubleClick for Publishers, to its AdX exchange in ways that restricted competition and harmed publishers.