Google's concession proposal rejected by the Department of Justice: merely splitting the business does not meet the requirement for a forced sale of AdX

Zhitong
2025.09.16 00:13
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Google once considered divesting part of its advertising technology business to address antitrust concerns in Europe and the United States, but the Department of Justice has demanded that it forcibly sell its advertising trading platform AdX. External lawyer Jenny Li stated that the Department of Justice seeks to implement complete technical separation and divestiture of AdX. A judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized the advertising technology market, and a hearing will begin next week to discuss whether Google must split off part of its business. Both U.S. and European competition authorities have determined that Google illegally dominates the advertising technology market, and the European Union recently imposed a fine of 3 billion euros on it

According to Zhitong Finance APP, Google (GOOGL.US) had considered divesting part of its advertising technology business to address antitrust concerns in Europe and the United States, but external lawyers for the tech giant claim that the Department of Justice's demands go further—forcing it to sell its advertising trading platform AdX.

Jeannie Rhee, an external lawyer for Alphabet, revealed that the Department of Justice is seeking to implement "complete technical separation and divestiture" of AdX. Following a judge's ruling that Google illegally monopolized two advertising technology markets, the Department of Justice and Google will begin a two-week hearing next week to discuss whether the company must split off part of its business.

"Google has indeed considered business divestiture," Rhee stated at a hearing in the U.S. District Court for Virginia, "but this is fundamentally different from the Department of Justice's proposal at any level." Google currently operates advertising purchasing services for marketers, advertising sales services for publishers, and a trading platform that allows buyers and sellers to complete transactions through auctions.

Rhee did not disclose specific details of Google's settlement proposal. Before the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. in 2023, Google had proposed to spin off its website and app advertising auction business into an independent company while still retaining a settlement proposal within the Alphabet structure.

Judge Leoni Brinkema, who is presiding over the case, ruled that the Department of Justice could disclose limited internal assessments of the feasibility of technical separation. "Technical feasibility is key to this case," Brinkema emphasized.

Both U.S. and European competition authorities have determined that Google illegally dominated the advertising technology market by giving its advertising tools a competitive advantage. Earlier this month, the European Union fined Google €3 billion ($3.5 billion) for improper business conduct, marking the second-highest fine imposed on the company by Brussels regulators.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is seeking Judge Brinkema to issue an injunction requiring Google to immediately sell the AdX trading platform and make its technology interoperable with competitors

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