Judge Leonie Brinkema heard final arguments Friday on whether Google should be broken up to address its monopoly in ad tech. She aims to issue her decision next year but emphasized that swift action is critical. The Justice Department is pushing for Google to divest its AdX exchange and potentially its publisher ad server, while Google argues behavioral remedies are sufficient. Brinkema previously ruled Google illegally monopolized two ad markets and linked key tools unfairly. Acknowledging Google’s probable appeal, she noted divestment remedies may be hard to enforce mid-appeal, whereas behavioral changes could be implemented faster. The case’s speedy timeline contrasts with a similar lawsuit against Meta, filed when TikTok was a smaller competitor. The DOJ chose Virginia’s “Rocket Docket” for its pace to avoid delays.
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