A federal judge ruled Google must relax its online advertising auction rules. The court also ordered the company to appoint an internal antitrust compliance monitor.
The decision stopped short of forcing Alphabet to sell its ad tech business. The judge cited the rise of AI and a rapidly changing technology landscape as reasons for avoiding a breakup.
Google must cease practices that publishers claimed locked them into its advertising tools. Websites using Google’s ad server are no longer required to use its AdX exchange.
These remedies aim to open the ad tech market to more competition. Google confirmed it will appeal the ruling.