The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed that Google sell its AdX digital ad marketplace and DFP platform for managing and delivering ads on websites, after a federal judge found that the company illegally dominated two online ad-tech markets.

The proposed remedies, including divestitures, are necessary to restore competition in the ad-exchange and publisher ad-server markets, the DOJ said in a court filing late on Monday.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, last month found Google liable for ‘willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power’ in those two markets.

The ruling was another blow for Google after a separate judge found last year that Google held an illegal monopoly in online search, as reported by Reuters.

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Brinkema set a September trial date on Friday, after hearing from Google and the DOJ on potential remedies for the company’s dominance in ad tools used by online publishers.

Google has said the company supported behavioural remedies such as making real-time bids available to competitors, but that prosecutors cannot legally pursue a bid to force it to sell parts of its business.

“The DOJ’s additional proposals to force a divestiture of our ad tech tools go well beyond the Court’s findings, have no basis in law, and would harm publishers and advertisers,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of Regulatory Affairs, said in a statement to Reuters.

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Folake Balogun is a technology journalist covering the evolving digital economy, with a focus on startup ecosystems, fintech innovation, artificial Intelligence, venture capital, and emerging technologies. Her work explores the intersection of technology, business, and society by highlighting how innovations such as artificial intelligence and next-generation connectivity are shaping everyday life and economic growth across the African continent and globally. She is a sixth cohort participant in the Technology and Digital Reporting training hosted by the Media Career Development Network in partnership with the U.S. Consulate General, Lagos. Folake is also a Fellow of the Tax Justice and Equity Project (2023 Cohort) by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) with the support of the International Budget Partnership. Through her reporting and analysis, she continues to spotlight the people, ideas, and technologies driving digital transformation.

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