US judge rejects DOJ bid to force Google to sell AdX

US District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected the Justice Department's attempt to force Google to sell AdX. Brinkema ordered changes to Google's advertising tools. The changes include greater rival access to bidding data. Alphabet shares rose modestly after the ruling. The Justice Department and several states accused Google in 2023 of dominating the technology that publishers use to sell online ads. Brinkema found in April 2025 that Google illegally tied publishers to AdX. AdX collects a 20% fee. Brinkema said Google's conduct substantially harmed publisher customers, the competitive process, and consumers of information on the open web. Google argued that selling AdX would be technically difficult and disruptive for customers. Another judge allowed Google to keep Chrome exactly one year earlier. Meta kept Instagram and WhatsApp in November. Ad Manager generated 4.1% of Google's revenue in 2020. Ad Manager generated 1.5% of Google's operating profit in 2020. Alphabet had a $4.08 trillion valuation. Google still faces regulatory problems in Europe. Alphabet's AI spending is creating a bigger question for investors.