Judge orders changes to Google's digital ads business but spares it from a breakup

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A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Google to retool the system powering its monopoly in digital advertising, sparing the company from a wrenching breakup sought by the U.S. government.

The initial two-page decision by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia marks the second time in a year that Google has received a reprieve from a Justice Department proposal to dismantle its internet empire. Meanwhile, what courts have described as the company's anti-competitive practices, have enriched Google's corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., which has a market value of $4.11 trillion.

The judge's full opinion will remain under seal for 14 days to allow the parties to review it and propose any necessary redactions.

Google did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday.

After a judge declared Google's ubiquitous search engine as an illegal monopoly in 2024, the Justice Department pushed for a penalty that would have required the company to sell its popular Chrome web browser. But it was rebuffed last September by another federal judge overseeing that case.

Now Brinkema has also rejected the government's argument that Google should be forced to sell parts of the technology underlying a byzantine system that generates a significant portion of the company's nearly $400 billion in annual ad sales.

Critics of Big Tech condemned the ruling.

“It takes an Olympic level of mental gymnastics to find that Google is operating an illegal monopoly and then decide to do nothing about it," said Sacha Haworth, executive director of The Tech Oversight Project. “With Big Tech continuing to suffocate new and innovative businesses from gaining traction, Judge Brinkema, like (U.S. District Judge Amit) Mehta before her, is sending the wrong message at the wrong time.”