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The specific conditions in the US adtech case against Google are now public: Google may keep its ad exchange AdX and the publisher ad server DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), but must open these systems considerably more to competitors. The US Department of Justice confirmed the behavioral remedies on 16 September 2026.
For publishers and adtech providers, this is the key addition to the early-September ruling. At that point it was already clear that Judge Leonie Brinkema would not order a breakup. Now it is set which technical and commercial rules Google must follow instead.
AdX and DFP must work with Prebid and rivals
According to the US Department of Justice, Google must build and support integrations between AdX and Prebid as well as between DFP and Prebid. Prebid is an open industry standard for real-time bidding and header bidding.
In addition, AdX must be able to transmit real-time bids to competing publisher ad servers. This is intended to give publishers access to Google's demand without being required to use Google's own publisher ad server.
Digiday reports that full Prebid interoperability is to be implemented within roughly 15 months. What matters most here is less an immediate switch away from Google than the ability to connect competing systems on more equal technical footing.
Publishers get more data and insight into auctions
The conditions go beyond mere interfaces. Google must make it easier for publishers to access and export their own historical and configuration-related data from DFP and AdX. This is meant to make switching to alternative adtech providers more practical.
Google must also disclose more auction data. According to Digiday, this includes information on winning and losing bids, as well as additional documentation on how DFP selects winners and which prices, direct deals, programmatic bids and adjustments feed into that decision.
This matters for publishers because competing ad servers and optimization systems can only be meaningfully evaluated if they receive enough data about demand and auctions. The conditions therefore aim not just at formal interoperability, but at data portability and transparency.
Google Ads may not favor Google's own adtech
Another central point concerns the buy side. The court prohibits Google's ad network from giving preferential treatment to Google's own adtech products when buying open-web inventory. No direct privileged connection between Google Ads, or the former AdWords, and DFP is to arise.
The US Department of Justice also explicitly states that Google may not use preferential bidding mechanisms in favor of its own systems. An independent monitor and a technical committee are to oversee implementation for six years.
So the ruling does not automatically change market shares. Rather, it is meant to change the conditions under which publishers, ad networks and ad servers can compete with each other.
Why the impact remains open
This is exactly where the uncertainty for the advertising industry lies. Digiday describes doubts among market participants about whether interoperability alone can actually break Google's established position. Publishers have aligned their infrastructure with Google Ad Manager for years, while Google's demand, data and measurement systems remain important competitive advantages.
The requirements are therefore not an automatic yield boost for publishers, nor a signal to replace Google Ad Manager in the short term. In practice, what will matter is whether competing systems actually receive more bids, data and comparable auction conditions after implementation.
For media teams, this fits into a market that is being automated more and more anyway. Agencies are already building cost audits for AI agents in media buying, while The Trade Desk with Kokai Zuma is rolling out new agentic buying models. The more buying is automated, the more important it becomes which demand, data and auctions these systems can actually reach.
Europe remains a separate adtech arena
For German companies, it is important that the US ruling does not settle the European case. In September, the European Commission imposed a fine of 2025 on Google amounting to 2,95 billion euros, because, in the Commission's view, the group had favoured its own adtech services to the detriment of competing providers, advertisers and publishers.
The EU Commission also demanded measures against the conflicts of interest along the adtech supply chain. Google has since submitted a proposal to the Commission for implementation, which Brussels is still evaluating.
In parallel, the market is consolidating through acquisitions and new technical models. Our overview of the adtech consolidation around Nielsen, DoubleVerify, Publicis and LiveRamp shows how strongly provider structure and the measurement landscape are currently changing at the same time.
The practical status is now clearer than it was in early September: Google keeps AdX and DFP. In return, the group must connect rival ad servers and Prebid more closely, give publishers more data access, make auctions more transparent and limit the preferential treatment of its own adtech. Whether this creates noticeably more competition will only become apparent from actual bids and publisher revenues.