A US court has ruled that Google can maintain its ad exchange. The Commission stated that a sale is the only viable solution.
A federal judge in the United States has determined that Google will not be required to sell its advertising exchange, resulting in the remedies from three American antitrust cases being primarily behavioral. In contrast, the European Commission imposed a €2.95 billion fine on Google last September, asserting that only the divestment of certain services would remedy the same behavior.
The U.S. Department of Justice initially won the case in 2025 but has since lost the remedy it sought, as reported by Ars Technica. The court concluded that Google unlawfully locked publishers into its exchange, although it did not find the advertising tools used by advertisers to be illegal. Judge Leonie Brinkema has placed a 14-day seal on the remedies order.
Brussels shared a similar perspective regarding Google's conduct but proposed a different solution. The Commission fined Google €2.95 billion last September for self-preferencing within the ad tech ecosystem. Their preliminary stance included a definitive requirement for Google to divest part of its services to rectify the issue.
Teresa Ribera reiterated this in October, stating that Google must present measures to eliminate its significant conflicts of interest in the ad tech sector and suggested that a structural remedy appears necessary. Google was given 60 days to respond, and its proposal was behavioral in nature.
The proposal allows publishers to set varying minimum prices for different bidders within Google Ad Manager and aims to enhance interoperability between tools, but it does not include any commitments to divest. The Commission is currently evaluating this proposal, with no decision announced yet.
Consequently, the same type of conduct now sits at two different points on a spectrum. One jurisdiction has concluded its remedy phase without requiring a sale, while the other has indicated that a sale may be necessary to transform digital advertising.
The situation with the Play Store followed a similar pattern. Google lost to Epic, retained control over app vetting, and the remedies stop at the U.S. border. Europe did not require that case; obligations regarding alternative app stores and payment options fall under the Digital Markets Act, and Google has already faced an €890 million penalty under it.
Three U.S. rulings have now concluded with Google's market power largely intact. The regulatory framework in Europe has been in effect since March 2024, independent of these judgments.
The next conflict is already on the horizon, as the Commission has initiated efforts to open Android to competing AI assistants and search data, allowing Google to expand in areas that the recent American cases have not constrained.
Published September 2, 2026 - 11:32 pm UTC
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A US court has ruled that Google can maintain its ad exchange. The Commission stated that a sale is the only viable solution.
Google will not be required to sell its ad exchange in the US. Officials in Brussels state that only a partial divestment of its services would address the same behavior.