US DOJ Proposes Breakup of Google's Ad-Tech Business

The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed that Google divest its AdX digital ad marketplace and DFP ad server platform after a federal judge ruled the company unlawfully maintained monopolies in key online advertising markets. The DOJ asserts that only structural separation, rather than Google's suggested behavioral remedies such as sharing real-time bidding data, can restore fair competition in the ad-exchange and publisher ad-server sectors. Google opposes the forced breakup, arguing that divestiture exceeds legal boundaries and would harm both publishers and advertisers. The platforms in question are central to how online publishers monetize content through advertising, and a trial to determine final remedies is set for September. This action follows similar antitrust challenges to Google in both the U.S. and Europe, where previous offers by Google to sell AdX were deemed insufficient by European publishers. Alphabet's shares dipped following the DOJ's latest filing.