After ruling in 2025 that Google was guilty of "willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power" in the digital ad market, Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday rejected a Justice Department proposal that would have forced Google to sell off parts of its advertising business as punishment.
Brinkema's opinion is sealed for 14 days, so it's unclear why she chose to reject the Justice Department's proposal. However, The Wall Street Journal reports that Brinkema had previously "questioned the practicality of a breakup," and "expressed uneasiness with not knowing who would buy Google's ad exchange and operate it in the future." Brinkema instead suggested the court could order Google to stop the anticompetitive conduct it deemed illegal, per the Journal.
