US DOJ Seeks Break-Up of Google’s Ad Tech Business to Restore Fair Market Competition

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed that Alphabet-owned Google divest two major components of its digital advertising business—AdX (Ad Exchange) and DFP (DoubleClick for Publishers)—after a federal judge determined the company unlawfully monopolised two critical online ad-tech markets. The filing, made public on Monday, follows the judge’s decision on Friday to set a trial for September 2025 to determine the appropriate remedies.

The DOJ stated that divestitures are “necessary to eliminate Google’s illegal monopolies and restore competition” in the ad-exchange and publisher ad-server markets. The remedies aim to break what regulators argue is Google's vertically integrated control across the digital advertising value chain.

AdX is a real-time digital advertising marketplace allowing publishers to sell unsold ad space to the highest bidder, while DFP is the ad server software used by publishers to manage, store, and deliver ads on their platforms. Together, these platforms form the core of Google’s dominance in online advertising infrastructure, especially among news outlets and digital content providers.

Google opposes the DOJ's call for divestiture, advocating instead for behavioural changes, such as ensuring fair access for competitors in real-time bidding. "The DOJ's additional proposals to force a divestiture of our ad tech tools go well beyond the Court's findings, have no basis in law, and would harm publishers and advertisers," said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, in a statement to Reuters.

This legal action follows similar concerns raised in the European Union, where Google previously offered to sell off AdX to resolve a separate antitrust probe. That proposal was rejected by European publishers as inadequate.

The DOJ’s aggressive stance signals a broader trend of global regulators scrutinising Big Tech’s dominance. If the proposed break-up proceeds, it could reshape the online advertising landscape, which relies heavily on Google's infrastructure for monetisation.

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