Judge Leonie Brinkema wrapped closing arguments in Google's ad tech monopoly case Friday with a stark warning: time is running out to fix this before appeals drag on for years. The federal judge is eyeing behavioral remedies that could take effect immediately rather than the Justice Department's preferred breakup plan, which would likely stall during Google's inevitable appeal.
The clock is ticking on one of the most significant antitrust cases in tech history. Judge Leonie Brinkema made it clear Friday that she's not interested in letting Google's ad tech dominance fester while lawyers battle through years of appeals.
The Justice Department came out swinging for maximum impact, demanding Google sell its AdX exchange and leaving the door open to force a sale of its publisher ad server. But Google pushed back hard, arguing that behavioral tweaks would solve the monopoly issues without dismantling its advertising empire.
Brinkema already ruled that Google maintains an illegal monopoly across two ad tech markets and unlawfully tied its tools together. Now she's wrestling with a remedy that can actually stick. "Time is of the essence," she noted, according to Reuters, clearly aware that Google will appeal whatever she decides.
The judge's reasoning cuts to the heart of modern antitrust enforcement: structural breakups sound dramatic, but they're worthless if they get frozen in appeals court. "Most likely would not be as easily enforceable while an appeal is pending," she said about the DOJ's aggressive remedies. On the flip side, behavioral changes "could happen quickly," The New York Times reported.
This timing obsession isn't academic. Meta just dodged a bullet in its own antitrust case partly because the competitive landscape shifted dramatically between when the FTC filed suit in 2020 and when it went to trial this year. TikTok exploded from a minor player to Meta's biggest threat, undermining the government's monopoly argument.
The DOJ learned from that fumble. They deliberately filed Google's ad tech case in the Eastern District of Virginia - the infamous "Rocket Docket" known for speedy trials. The strategy worked: this case moved from filing to closing arguments in record time.
But speed only matters if the remedy survives. Google's ad tech machinery generates billions by sitting at every level of the digital advertising stack - from the tools publishers use to sell ad space, to the exchange where ads get auctioned, to the technology advertisers use to buy those spots. The company essentially taxes every transaction while controlling the entire marketplace.
