by WorldTribune Staff, September 2, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
A federal judge on Wednesday spared Google from breaking up its advertising monopoly, instead ordering the Big Tech behemoth to retool the system powering its digital advertising.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, a Bill Clinton appointee, rejected the Department of Justice’s request to force Google to sell off its AdX exchange business, which connects publishers selling ad space online to advertisers.
The digital advertising dominance of Google and Meta/Facebook and their ever-changing algorithms have put independent publishers at a severe disadvantage for many years.
In cease and desist letters last year, WorldTribune.com demanded an immediate halt to all undisclosed codes, algorithms, partnerships, and practices that have throttled the site’s reach across Google Search, Facebook, Gmail inboxing, and other critical platforms.
The online newspaper reported that advertising revenues have plummeted by 87% since 2021. To date, no formal response has been received to the Feb. 6, 2025 cease-and-desist letter to Google.
In 2018, WorldTribune.com founding editor Robert Morton noted: “We have seen sharp decreases in online advertising revenue despite rising traffic in recent years every time Google and Facebook made major changes in their algorithms.”
Judge Brinkema also declined to require Google to open-source the technology behind DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), its publisher-side platform, or potentially divest the business.
Brinkema accepted “most of the parties’ proposed behavioral remedies, as modified by this Court.” The specifics remain under seal in the judge’s opinion.
The Justice Department, which sued Google in 2023, accusing the company of monopolizing the industry by acquiring other businesses and tying its products together, said in a statement that it is “evaluating appropriate next steps.”
Despite a push by the Justice Department to split off its Chrome browser, Google was ultimately not forced to break up its search business. A separate judge ruled in August 2024 that the company had an illegal monopoly over online search.
Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a statement: “We’re very pleased the court rejected the DOJ’s proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow.”
Other efforts to break up Big Tech firms have been unsuccessful. A judge ruled in favor of Meta last November, finding the company did not hold a monopoly over social media with its ownership of both Facebook and Instagram.
An October 2021 review of WorldTribune.com almost daily communications from Google’s Advertising Division found 12 objections to Covid/vaccine articles and four to 2020 election fraud reports in just days. Advertising revenue was blocked for that content.
Related: DOJ sues Google, seeks to break up digital advertising monopoly, January 24, 2023
