The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed that Google divest its Ad Exchange (AdX) and DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), now known as Google Ad Manager, as part of a plan to address the company’s alleged monopolistic practices in the ad tech space. A judge has ruled that these practices violate antitrust laws. The DOJ’s proposal includes selling these two major components of Google’s business and preventing the company from operating an ad exchange for a decade. Additionally, the DOJ suggests a phased divestiture of the Ad Manager platform, requiring Google to create an API for integration with other ad exchanges and to release auction code under an open-source license. Google opposes these measures, arguing that divestiture would harm its customers and take years to implement. Instead, Google proposes targeted changes to certain business practices. This case adds to the DOJ’s ongoing efforts to break up Google’s monopolistic control, including a separate case involving Chrome.
— new from The Verge
