On the back of Brinkema’s initial ruling, swaths of publishers (including The Atlantic, USA Today, Vox Media, Billboard owner Penske Media, and others) and adtech platforms that help publishers monetize with ads have levied their own lawsuits against Google, seeking damages for alleged harms that the company’s adtech practices caused.
A federal judge in a separate DOJ case against Google determined that the company also operated an illegal monopoly in the online search market. In that case, too, penalties were lighter than the government sought; the judge ruled that Google must share some search data with competitors and avoid some exclusive distribution contracts, but it would not be forced to offload its Chrome browser.
In the adtech case, full details of the behavioral remedies will be made public when the court unseals Brinkema’s opinion. The parties will then have 30 days to submit a final judgment.
