Monopolist Google gets ‘behavioral’ guardrails and a monitoring plan

A federal judge in Virginia has ordered Google to submit to behavioral remedies rather than a breakup, after finding the company illegally monopolized ad tech markets. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema's memorandum calls for a Monitor and Technical Committee to oversee compliance, data-sharing rules, a ban on discriminatory bidding, and integration requirements between Google's ad exchange and rival publisher ad servers.

Brinkema rejected the Justice Department's push for divestiture, saying its rationale amounted to distrust that Google would comply with a court order. She sided with Google's proposed six-year term for the judgment over the DOJ's request for more than double that, though she noted the court can extend it if compliance falls short.

Critics, including the Open Markets Institute's Barry Lynn, have called the ruling proof the judiciary is abdicating its antitrust duties. The case, filed in 2023, previously resulted in a finding that Google violated antitrust law; a separate search-engine antitrust case against Google also ended without a divestiture order.

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