In a bold move to curb Google’s dominance in the digital advertising industry, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a sweeping plan on Monday, urging a federal court to force the tech giant to divest two cornerstone components of its ad-tech business: its Ad Exchange (AdX) and its ad management platform, Google Ad Manager (formerly DoubleClick for Publishers, or DFP). The proposal aims to dismantle what the DOJ describes as Google’s “decade-long campaign of exclusionary conduct,” following an April court ruling that declared the company’s practices in violation of U.S. antitrust law.
The DOJ’s filing marks a pivotal moment in the government’s ongoing battle to rein in Big Tech’s monopolistic practices. It accuses Google of leveraging its control over the ad-tech ecosystem to stifle competition, inflate prices, and lock customers into its platforms. Specifically, the DOJ targets AdX, Google’s marketplace for real-time ad bidding, and Google Ad Manager, a tool used by publishers to manage and sell ad inventory. The April ruling found that Google’s integration of these platforms created barriers for competitors, making it “more difficult for customers on both sides of the ad exchange market to switch to rival exchanges” and forcing publishers to use Google’s products against their preferences.
Under the DOJ’s plan, Google would be required to sell AdX “as soon as possible” to a third party and would be barred from operating any ad exchange for a decade. To ensure a smooth transition, the DOJ proposes an interim remedy mandating that AdX interoperate with rival systems. For Google Ad Manager, the DOJ envisions a “phased” divestiture. In the first phase, Google would develop an API to allow the platform to integrate with competing ad exchanges and provide an export feature for publishers to transfer their data to alternative ad servers. The second phase would require Google to release the code for its final ad auctions under an open-source license, while prohibiting the company from using or recreating this code in its own products, including Ad Manager, Android, or Chrome. The final phase would see Google fully divest Google Ad Manager to a separate entity from the AdX buyer.
Additionally, the DOJ seeks to limit Google’s ability to exploit its vast data reserves. The proposal calls for Google to share data collected through Google Ad Manager with competitors and prohibits the company from using first-party data from YouTube, Gmail, Search, Chrome, or Android to gain an unfair edge in the ad market.
Google, for its part, has fiercely contested the DOJ’s plan. In a parallel filing, the company requested narrower remedies, proposing targeted changes to its business practices while preserving its integrated structure. Google also signaled its intent to appeal the April ruling, arguing that its ad-tech dominance stems from innovation and efficiency, not anticompetitive behavior.
The court will now weigh both proposals, with a decision expected to have far-reaching implications for Google and the broader tech industry. As the battle unfolds, all eyes are on whether the government can succeed in loosening Google’s grip on the $600 billion digital advertising market.
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