US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema has rejected the Justice Department's request to break up Google, deciding instead on milder remedies to restore competition in ad tech markets.

The judge previously ruled that Google had stymied competition for ad tech services for years. In this latest decision, Brinkema adopted most of the behavioral changes proposed by the parties, with some modifications. These could include restrictions on Google’s use of self-preferencing ad auction tactics and access to real-time information for third-party tools.

Google has faced antitrust backlash under both Democratic and Republican administrations. During the Biden administration, then-Senator JD Vance praised Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan for her scrutiny of tech giants. This decision brings the district court phase of the third major tech monopoly case brought by the federal government to a conclusion.

The DOJ's successful argument that Google illegally monopolized markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges has led to this outcome. However, the DOJ failed to prove illegal monopolization of the market for advertiser-side tools. Google's VP of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, expressed satisfaction with the court's decision, while the DOJ Antitrust Division is evaluating its next steps.