So Is The DOJ Breaking Google Up Or What?
Google’s got a lot of irons in the fire: Gemini, Android, Search, Gmail — the list goes on. By the numbers, though, Google is an advertising company. In 2024, of the more than $348 billion Google took in, the lion’s share was in ad revenue.
So it’s a big deal that, this week, the US Department of Justice filed its proposed dramatic remedies in a case where Google has been found to maintain an illegal monopoly in the online advertising space. The DOJ wants Google to sell off its online ad marketplace, Ad Exchange, and ad management platform, Google Ad Manager, changes that could reshape the internet landscape at large. Naturally, Google’s not on board.
Welcome to Compiler, your weekly digest of Google’s goings-on. I spend my days as Google Editor reading and writing about what Google’s up to across Android, Pixel, Gemini, and more, and talk about it all right here in this column. Here’s what’s been on my mind this week.
What does the DOJ want?
Last month, Judge Leonie Brinkema of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that Google had built and maintained a monopoly in the online ad space through the part of its business that matches website publishers with advertisers. That’s Ad Exchange, which lets publishers auction off ad space to advertisers in real time, and Google Ad Manager, a suite of tools for publishers to manage ad inventory.
The Department of Justice wants Google to sell off both Ad Exchange and Ad Manager. It wants Google to divest itself of Ad Exchange as soon as possible, and seeks to prevent Google from operating any ad exchange for a decade after.
Its proposed remedies suggest a divestiture of Ad Manager that would take place in phases. First, the DOJ recommends Google would create an API that would allow its online advertising platform to integrate with competing ad exchanges, and facilitate customers transferring Google Ad Manager data to other ad servers. Then, the DOJ says, Google should open-source portions of Ad Manager code. Finally, Google would be made to sell what’s left of Ad Manager to a separate buyer than acquired Ad Exchange.
Related
What does Google want?
Google is unsurprisingly opposed to selling off portions of its business, arguing that a forced divestiture is both legally and practically unfeasible. It says that “breaking” Ad Manager “would raise costs and disproportionately impact small businesses who rely on Google’s affordable, easy-to-use tools to grow.”
The company has proposed its own remedies, which are much more limited in scope than the DOJ’s. Google’s proposal includes making bid amounts available to rival ad servers and increasing pricing flexibility for publishers selling ad inventory. Google has also committed not to recreate the First Look and Last Look ad auction mechanics that Ad Exchange once featured, which the DOJ has argued gave the platform unfair advantages.
What comes next?
This case has been ongoing since 2023 and still likely won’t conclude for months or even years. Remedy hearings — where the court will hear arguments for and ultimately rule on official penalties — are scheduled to begin in late September. A remedies decision is expected to be reached late this year or early next.
Once that ruling is in, Google has said it plans to appeal Judge Brinkema’s initial April ruling that its ad tech breaks the law at all. The subsequent appeal process would likely last months, pushing a resolution in the case into late 2026 or beyond. If Google were to lose on that appeal, it could petition the United States Supreme Court to hear one last appeal — but it’s unclear whether the highest court would opt to hear the case.
Separately, Google is embroiled in an antitrust suit centered around the company’s dominance of online search. Depending on how that trial shakes out, Google may be forced to sell off its wildly popular Chrome browser. That case is still ongoing, and Google has the option to appeal there, too.
Depending on how Google’s ongoing cases unfold, it’s possible the company will have to sell off important pieces of its advertising business and its browser, consequences that would have serious implications for how the company would operate going forward. DOJ argues that breaking up Google could level the playing field for competition, ideally leading to more and better options for consumers.
Neither case is likely to be resolved until next year, and further appeals could potentially drag the process out even longer. An aggressively reorganized Google could mean significant changes for products like Android, Search, and Gemini — so Android Police will be keeping a close eye on this in the months ahead.
