What happened
- On September 2, 2026, Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled on the remedies phase of United States v. Google LLC, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
- The two-page order rejects the three structural remedies the Justice Department sought: selling AdX, open-sourcing the final auction logic of DFP and divesting the rest of the ad server if competition didn’t recover.
- The judge accepted most of the conduct remedies proposed by the parties, with her own modifications. Among them are interoperability obligations with competitors’ tools.
- Her reasoning is in an opinion that remains sealed. A redacted public version is expected.
Why it matters
- Google keeps ownership of all three layers of the business: the publisher tool, the advertiser tool and the auction that connects them. The same court declared in April 2025 that two of those markets were illegally monopolized. It changes how Google operates; it doesn’t change who owns it.
- For a media outlet or small site selling display advertising, the practical effect depends on rules nobody has read yet. The public order says what was rejected. It doesn’t say what was ordered, and that opacity contrasts with the transparency obligations Brussels switched on the same Monday.
- The liability finding still stands and is the material already being used by publishers suing separately for damages in New York. The ruling closes the structural route, not the civil one. The business Google keeps, moreover, is no longer the one that moves its quarterly results the most: other figures explain that distinction.
The number
3 structural remedies rejected. The sale of AdX, open-sourcing DFP’s auction code and the conditional sale of the rest of the ad server. The order rejects them in capital letters, without explaining why in the public document.
Context
Brinkema ruled in April 2025 that Google illegally monopolized the markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges. A third charge, on advertiser ad networks, didn’t succeed. The remedies phase ran between September and October 2025, and closing arguments wrapped up in November. From the bench, the judge had already raised doubts about who would buy AdX and what would happen to the small publishers that use DFP without paying.
What’s next
- The parties must submit a joint final judgment within 30 days.
- The reasoned opinion stays sealed for 14 days. A redacted version is expected after that.
- No announcement of an appeal by the Justice Department.
Bottom line
The European Commission also demanded that Google divest part of its advertising business, and the company refused in November 2025. Two jurisdictions, the same practical conclusion: it’s faster to change the auction than to change the owner.
This note describes an ongoing court ruling and does not constitute legal advice.
