A US court refused to break up Google's ad tech in September 2026. It ordered six years of behavioral remedies, including AdX bidding into Prebid and an end to unified pricing rules. The final judgment is not signed yet, and Google plans to appeal. The EU fine is under appeal, and the European Commission has not ruled on remedies. Google Network revenue grew about 1% in Q3 2026.
Google says it will appeal the April 2025 liability ruling once final judgment is entered. It may also appeal parts of the remedies decision.
From Alphabet Inc. (Q3 2026 Form 10-Q), sec.gov
Keep in mind: The wording implies final judgment had not been entered by October 28.
Alphabet reported Google Network revenue of $7.455B for Q3 2026, against $7.354B a year earlier. That is growth of about 1%.
From Alphabet Inc., s206.q4cdn.com
Keep in mind: Network covers AdSense, AdMob and Ad Manager together. Alphabet does not report AdX on its own.
Gannett, the Daily Mail and a certified class of website publishers asked a New York federal judge not to let Google pause their ad tech trial while it appeals, Law360 reported.
From Publishers' opposition filing, In re Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation (S.D.N.Y.), Law360
Keep in mind: The judge has not ruled on the stay.
At Prebid Summit, Prebid proposed flipping the auction order. Google's auction would feed into Prebid, and Prebid would make the final call.
From Prebid.org, AdExchanger
Keep in mind: A proposal only. Google has not agreed, and there is no timeline.
Prebid's proposal to have Google's ad server and AdX bid into Prebid is in public comment, AdExchanger reported. The working group hopes to formalize it by the end of Q1, and Digiday reported a target of early 2027.
From Prebid.org working group, AdExchanger
Keep in mind: A proposal, not a release. It only works if Google connects through Prebid Server.
Google asked a New York federal judge to pause the private ad tech lawsuits while it appeals the Virginia ruling.
From Google LLC (letter filed in S.D.N.Y.), MLex
Keep in mind: MLex is behind a paywall. Only the opening was read.
In the October 2 proposed final judgment, the DOJ wants AdX bidding into rival ad servers within 6 months and Google wants 12. The DOJ wants equal information for all buying tools in 12 months and Google wants 18, PPC Land reported.
From Proposed final judgment, Doc 1861, U.S. v. Google, No. 1:23-cv-00108 (E.D. Va.), PPC Land
Keep in mind: Both sides' proposals. The judge has not signed a final judgment.
Google and the DOJ filed a joint proposed final judgment on October 2. The DOJ wants AdX connected to Prebid in six months. Google wants twelve.
From U.S. DOJ and Google LLC (joint filing), AdExchanger
Keep in mind: Google also wants up to 24 extra months outside the US. Nothing takes effect until 60 days after the judge signs.
Google must drop unified pricing rules for indirect sales, so publishers can set different floors by exchange. AdX must also bid into Prebid and rival ad servers.
From U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (memorandum opinion), PPC Land
Keep in mind: Covers open-web display only. Video, in-app and DV360 are outside the order.
The 106-page opinion, unsealed September 16, sets the remedies for six years with a court-appointed monitor. The DOJ had asked for 15 years.
From Reuters (Jonathan Stempel, Jody Godoy), The Star
Judge Brinkema refused the DOJ's request to break up Google's ad tech on September 2, 2026. She ordered behavioral remedies instead.
From U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, PPC Land
Keep in mind: No sale of AdX, no open-sourcing of DFP's auction logic and no contingent sale of DFP.
Since July 27, 2026, Ad Manager lets publishers set target CPM floors for specific bidders. From September 21, pricing rules can target header bidding traffic.
From Google Ad Manager Help (2026 release notes), support.google.com
Keep in mind: Open Bidding Direct Pay partners had to re-accept terms by October 1 or revert.
Google Network revenue fell 4% year over year in Q1 2026, to $6.97B. Q2 2026 came in at $7.303B, down 1%.
From Alphabet Inc., PPC Land
Keep in mind: Read from PPC Land, not Alphabet's own Q1 and Q2 releases.
In mid-December 2025, Google dropped unified pricing rules in the EU and cut its Open Bidding fee there to zero. The Commission then asked dozens of firms for feedback.
From Google; European Commission, Digiday
Keep in mind: The zero Open Bidding fee applies in the EU only.
Google's status dashboard acknowledged a drop in AdX match rates on January 13 and 14, 2026. Publishers on forums reported sharp RPM falls.
From Google Ads Status Dashboard, PPC Land
Keep in mind: The revenue figures come from anonymous forum posts.
Google offered the European Commission behavioral fixes, including separate floors per bidder and more interoperability. It offered no sale of any business. Commissioner Teresa Ribera had said a structural remedy seemed needed.
From Google; Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice President, European Commission, The Register
The European Commission fined Google EUR 2.95B over ad tech in September 2025. Google appealed to the EU General Court as Case T-794/25.
From European Commission (Case AT.40670), PPC Land
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has set a 12-week trial starting September 25, 2028 in the UK publishers' ad tech claim against Google, according to the tribunal's case page.
From UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, case 1572/1582 (Ad Tech Collective Action LLP v Alphabet and others)
Keep in mind: The trial date could still move.
Observations and reported facts, newest first.
Alphabet said AdMob drove Q3 2026 Network growth, partly offset by lower AdSense revenue. Network impressions fell 14% while cost per impression rose 14%.
From Alphabet Inc. (Q3 2026 Form 10-Q), sec.gov
Keep in mind: AdX is not broken out. Nine-month Network revenue was down $235M year over year.
As of September 2, 2026, the European Commission was still assessing Google's offer. It had announced no remedy decision.
From The Next Web, thenextweb.com
Keep in mind: No later Commission statement was found on 2026-10-31.
In a Mile AI test, bidder-specific floors raised one sports publisher's total RPM by 7% to 11%. AdX won 8% to 13% fewer auctions but cleared at higher CPMs.
From Vijay Kumar, founder and CEO, Mile AI, MediaPost
Keep in mind: One publisher over two to three weeks. Mile AI sells floor optimization.
Named views and readings, newest first. A view is not a fact.
An expert in the Virginia ad tech case estimated that removing unified pricing rules alone would cut AdX's take rate to about 16.6%, PPC Land reported.
From Expert testimony, U.S. v. Google (E.D. Va.), PPC Land
Keep in mind: The expert and their side are not named. The starting take rate is not stated.
PubMatic's CEO says Google's engineers estimate 12 to 15 months to build the ordered interoperability. He argues a link to AdX does not by itself create real choice.
From Rajeev Goel, CEO, PubMatic, PPC Land
Keep in mind: PubMatic competes with Google's exchange.
What nobody can answer yet. These are what the daily check looks for.
Do floors by bidder and the end of unified pricing raise or cut publishers' AdX revenue at scale?
Raised Oct 31, 2026, mediapost.com
Will the European Commission accept Google's behavioral offer, or still require Google to sell part of its ad tech?
Raised Oct 31, 2026, thenextweb.com
When will Judge Brinkema sign the final judgment, and will AdX connect to Prebid in six months or twelve?
Raised Oct 31, 2026, AdExchanger
Add https://mcp.beeler.tech/mcp to Claude or ChatGPT as a custom connector, once. Then ask: “Will Google's ad exchange still be worth it for publishers?” It answers from these statements, with every source named and linked.
Every statement links to its source and says when Beeler.Tech has a tie to it, such as an In View client. Community observations are anonymous; here is how we use them. Corrections are made in public.
