US court orders Google to change advertising auction rules — The Hill
US Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema has ordered Google to change the rules for conducting online advertising auctions. The decision was made after the court found last year that the company had illegally obtained monopoly power over technologies that connect publishers and advertisers. The Hill reports on the announced measures.
A business sale will not be required
The judge rejected the US Department of Justice’s request to require Google to sell its advertising exchange or open the source code of the technology underpinning its publisher platform. Brinkema said that structural remedies were neither realistic nor necessary, while adjusted behavioral restrictions could open advertising technology markets to competition.
The judge adopted most of the behavioral measures proposed by Google and the federal government. Their details became public after Brinkema unsealed the decision prepared earlier this month.
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Requirements for platforms
Google will not be able to apply policies that tie its publisher platform DoubleClick for Publishers, or DFP, to the AdX advertising exchange. The company was also prohibited from restoring features that required publishers using DFP to give AdX preferential treatment when bidding for advertising space.
The court ordered Google to ensure that DFP and AdX are compatible with header bidding software. It allows publishers to offer advertising space to several advertising exchanges before bidding ends. AdX must also be compatible with competing publisher platforms, and Google must provide publishers with data from AdX and DFP.
DFP, AdX and Google’s AdWords advertising platform are prohibited from giving priority to the company’s own products. US Deputy Attorney General Stanley Woodward called the decision a significant victory in efforts to restore competition and said that the Department of Justice continues to study the court’s ruling to determine further steps.
