Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday rejected the Justice Department's bid to force Google to divest AdX, open-source DoubleClick for Publishers' final auction logic, or sell DFP Remainder. [1][2] She accepted most of the parties' proposed behavioral remedies, as modified by the court. [1] The accompanying Memorandum Opinion is sealed for 14 days so the parties can request redactions. [1] The public still cannot read what the behavioral cure actually is.
The order is two pages. Structural relief is REJECTED. Behavioral relief is ACCEPTED, as modified, for reasons stated in an opinion the public cannot yet read. [1] AppleInsider sold a dodge: Google "gets to keep its ad-tech business intact after escaping the Department of Justice's push for a court-ordered breakup." [2] The 2025 monopoly finding still stands. [2] A reader of only "Google avoids breakup" missed that the remedy the public can name does not yet exist, and that AdX and DFP stay inside the company found to run both sides of the auction.
The parties have 30 days from Sept. 2 to meet, confer, and file one jointly proposed Final Judgment reflecting the sealed opinion. [1] If a provision remains unresolved, each side must include its version, labeled, with no argument attached. [1] Within 14 days they must move for any redactions they believe necessary; requests "must be kept to a minimum and must be supported by sound reasons." [1] If none are requested, the opinion will be unsealed. If any are granted, a redacted version will be filed publicly and the original will stay sealed. [1] AppleInsider said 15 days for redactions. [2] The order text is 14. Use the order.
The Justice Department and eight states sued in January 2023, alleging Google used acquisitions and its ad stack to disadvantage competitors on both the buy and sell sides. [2] The claim was that Google could raise prices for ad spots while reducing rivals' ability to compete. [2] Brinkema found an illegal monopoly in 2025. [2] The department then pushed a structural breakup, including a sale of Google Ad Manager. [2] AppleInsider noted that a forced sale could have helped Apple as it expands advertising, including ads that recently began appearing in Apple Maps. [2] That is a competitor's interest, not the order.
Wednesday is the remedy day, not the liability day. The docket number is 1:23-cv-00108. The document is ECF 1857, filed Sept. 2, 2026, signed by Brinkema. [1] Google keeps the stack. The public waits 14 days to learn what the court thinks the cure is. A jointly proposed Final Judgment in 30 days is the next operative receipt. Until then, "most" behavioral remedies, as modified, remain a sealed phrase.
The rejected structural list is specific. Plaintiffs wanted AdX sold off. They wanted DFP's final auction logic open-sourced. They wanted a contingent sale of DFP Remainder. Brinkema rejected all three. [1] She did not reject the 2025 finding that Google held an illegal monopoly in digital advertising. [2] Liability and remedy are separate pages. AppleInsider's "yet again dodged" line treats the second page as the whole case. [2] The first page still says monopoly. The sealed opinion is where the court explains why keeping the stack and rewriting conduct is enough. Until that opinion is public, the behavioral cure is a caption.
Chambers also wants a Word copy of the proposed Final Judgment, not only the public docket filing. [1] Unresolved provisions must be labeled by proponent with no argument attached. [1] That is a drafting instruction, not a breakup. Google's ad exchange and publisher tools remain inside Google. The public still cannot read the terms meant to police them.
Brinkema sealed the opinion because "a significant amount of sealed material was referenced during the trial." [1] Redaction requests "must be kept to a minimum and must be supported by sound reasons." [1] If the parties ask for none, the opinion unseals. If they ask and she agrees, a redacted public version appears and the original stays sealed. [1] Either way, the structural remedies are already dead. The monopoly finding is already live. The missing middle is the conduct order. AppleInsider dated its piece 1:26 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 2. [2] CourtListener uploaded the PDF at 10:31 a.m. Eastern the same day. [1] The clock on the 14 days started with the order, not with the write-up.
-- DAVID CHEN, Beijing