The specific obligations Google will face are not yet public, because Brinkema’s explanatory opinion remains under seal. Earlier, Google had proposed making real-time bidding responses from AdX available to rival ad servers, removing Unified Pricing Rules, and accepting a monitoring trustee for a three-year supervision period. None of that will even dent Google’s ad business.
When all’s said and done, Google is still in charge of both its exchange and publisher ad-server operations. I expect the minor changes required won’t amount to a hill of beans. Restoring competition in markets where the company was found to have used its vertically integrated position unlawfully? Give me a break.
Public Knowledge, a free speech and internet advocacy group, described the decision as one that leaves Google’s monopoly power substantially intact.
This story originally appeared on Computerworld
