The US government won both of its big antitrust cases against Google. In 2026 it learned what winning would and wouldn’t mean: rules, monitors and data sharing, but no breakup.

The ad-tech ruling

Google was found liable in April 2025 for illegally monopolising two parts of the advertising technology that sits between websites and advertisers: the publisher ad server and the ad exchange. The government asked for Google to be forced to sell its exchange, AdX, which takes a 20% fee on transactions.

On September 2, 2026, Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia declined, CNBC and TechCrunch reported. Instead she accepted most of the proposed behavioural remedies. According to a summary by the law firm Goodwin, they include:

  • Interoperability: Google’s publisher ad server and AdX must integrate with Prebid, the open-source system publishers use to run auctions across many exchanges.
  • Data portability: publishers can export their own data.
  • No self-preferencing: Google Ads may not favour Google’s own ad tech.
  • Oversight: a monitor and technical committee for six years.

The Justice Department called the result a significant victory. Google said it was very pleased the court had rejected the breakup. CNBC noted it was the third straight failed attempt to break up a Big Tech company, after the Chrome divestiture proposal in the search case and the government’s case against Meta.

The search case, on appeal

In the search case, Judge Amit Mehta’s final judgment of December 2025:

  • bans exclusive distribution deals, such as paying to be the only search engine on a device;
  • requires Google to share search index and user-interaction data, and to syndicate results and ads, with qualified competitors;
  • sets up a technical committee for a six-year term.

Google appealed to the D.C. Circuit on January 16; the government and states cross-appealed on February 3, the day the judgment took effect. On May 7 Mehta denied Google’s request to pause the data-sharing and syndication requirements, without prejudice, finding no imminent harm because sharing was still months away.

Why it matters

  • Remedies are now technical. Instead of new companies, the outcome is APIs, data access, standards and monitors. The details of index sharing and Prebid integration will decide whether the cases change anything.
  • Search data could feed rivals, including AI search. If the data-sharing rules survive appeal, qualified competitors, potentially including AI search products, get access to Google search index data.
  • Years of uncertainty remain. The D.C. Circuit’s decision on the search case will set the template, and appeals on ad tech are likely.

Sources

  1. CNBC: Google defeats US bid to force ad tech sale (Sep 2, 2026)
  2. TechCrunch: Google spared from ad business breakup, but judge orders changes (Sep 2, 2026)
  3. US District Court for D.C.: order denying stay pending appeal, ECF 1514 (May 7, 2026)
  4. Goodwin: Technology antitrust Q3 2026 insights (Oct 16, 2026)

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