Signal Unsealed Google ad tech antitrust remedies detail behavioral fixes, no forced breakup

Summary

The full text of U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema's remedies decision in the Google ad tech antitrust case was unsealed on September 16-17, 2026, after the ruling itself was issued in brief form on September 2. Brinkema declined to force Google to sell its ad exchange, AdX, but ordered a series of behavioral remedies instead. Google must build API integrations connecting AdX and DFP to Prebid, submit AdX bids to rival publisher ad servers on the same terms DFP receives them, and share bid win/loss data with publishers. Google also said it will deprecate its Unified Pricing Rules and let publishers set different price floors for individual bidders in its ad server. The remedies follow a 2024 trial finding that Google illegally tied DFP with AdX and used tactics such as first look, last look, and unified pricing rules to neutralize header bidding competition. Analysts note the case has implications for AI given Google's advertising and search data advantage in training generative AI models.