Google Avoids Ad-Business Breakup but Must Adjust Operations, Judge Rules

Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia handed down the ruling on Wednesday, declining to dissolve Google's ad business while ordering operational changes to open up competition.

The decision follows years of antitrust pressure from the U.S. Justice Department, which filed separate lawsuits in 2020 over Google's dominance in search and search advertising, and in 2023 targeting its ad-technology stack that connects publishers and advertisers.

Courts have largely sided with the government. In 2024, a judge found that Google's search business, including its lucrative search-ad operation, constituted an illegal monopoly. In April 2026, the court handling the ad-tech case reached a similar conclusion, determining that Google's grip on the digital ad economy violated antitrust law.

Despite those findings, judges have rejected forced breakups. In September 2025, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google could keep its Chrome browser and Android operating system in the search case. Brinkema's ruling now follows that same pattern for ad tech.

Instead of divestiture, the court is requiring Google to adjust its business practices to level the playing field for rivals. The specific changes will affect how Google operates its ad-technology tools, which are used by publishers and advertisers to buy and sell digital advertising space.