Judge expresses caution over dismantling Google’s advertising operations
The post Judge expresses caution over dismantling Google’s advertising operations appeared com. Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia spent much of Friday hearing closing arguments on proposed fixes to Google’s ad-tech monopoly. She signaled that she’ll likely hand down her ruling in 2026. “Time is of the essence. I am concerned about the timing of all this,” she said, noting that if Google challenges her ruling, it could slow down any sale. Whereas a conduct order, she added, could be enforced right away. Google suggested the court impose behavioral limits The lawsuit, brought by the Department of Justice, together with a coalition of states, asserts that Google dominates the entire system that serves ads on websites. Each time a web page loads, Google runs an auction for the ad space, processing 8. 2 million requests per second. The government claims that the company exploits its dominance in this field to capture a larger share of the transactions. Judge Brinkema in April had ruled that Google had monopolized publishers’ tools and transaction software, but made the further distinction that the government couldn’t yet prove Google’s monopoly on ad-buying tools for advertisers. The Department of Justice, however, has asked Judge Brinkema to compel Google to divest its ad-exchange technology and provide specific data-such as the code for the tools publishers use to sell ads. Google, meanwhile, has proposed a much narrower fix. It proposed changes to certain aspects of its operations to help level the playing field. It also offered to share more auction data with publishers and make its platform more compatible with rival tools. The judge has been listening to arguments on both proposals over.