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Alphabet Inc.’s Google doesn’t have to sell off its advertising exchange and instead must make its ad tech tools work with those operated by rivals, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, in a move that saves the tech giant from a second bid to force a breakup.

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United States District Judge Leonie Brinkema issued her decision under seal accompanied by a short order rejecting the Justice Department’s bid to force a sale of Google’s AdX. Instead, she ordered proposed behavioural changes to Google’s business without describing what those are. The redacted decision will be issued later this month.

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The judge decided against a forced sale of Google despite an April 2025 ruling that the company illegally monopolized two advertising technology markets. The Justice Department had asked that Google be forced to sell its exchange and make public the auction logic that decides which advertisement will show on a website. Brinkema rejected that option, choosing to accept “most” of the behavioural changes at Google that were recommended to her.

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“We’re very pleased the court rejected the DOJ’s proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a statement.

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The judge ordered the parties to meet, confer and file a joint final judgment proposal within 30 days reflecting the opinion. If they can’t resolve differences, they should include their respective proposals. Brinkema sealed much of the order for 14 days to enable the parties to view and move for redactions, if necessary.

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The Justice Department said in a statement that it was pleased the court ordered substantial relief in the case.

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“The department will continue to fight for fair competition,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, the No. 3 official currently overseeing antitrust enforcement, said in a post on the website X. “The timing of the court’s order reflects the tradeoffs between immediate relief and remedies obtained through years of litigation.”

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Google shares were up less than one per cent at US$338.3 at 1:24 p.m. in New York.

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Companies spend more than US$919 billion globally on digital advertising, according to estimates by research firm EMarketer, making the industry one of the largest segments of the broader tech economy. Google’s U.S. ad operations alone are expected to bring in US$101.2 billion in 2026. Most of that comes from search ads — roughly US$83.8 billion — while about US$17.4 billion stems from display advertising, the segment at the centre of the government’s case.

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The Justice Department sued Google in 2023 in a second antitrust complaint against the tech giant, accusing the company of illegally monopolizing several areas of the advertising technology used to buy, sell and serve the online display ads that appear on many websites.