Developing
A court filing, not an order. Judge Brinkema has not signed a final judgment, and Google is widely expected to appeal.
In 60 seconds
- Google and the DOJ lodged competing proposed final judgments in one 41-page document, reported on October 5, 2026.
- Both agree AdX must connect to Prebid, Google Ads cannot bid directly into DFP, and first look and last look are barred.
- The DOJ wants AdX opened to Prebid and rival ad servers in six months; Google asks for twelve, plus 24 more months internationally.
- A 60-day implementation clock starts once the judge signs.
Impact Layer
- What changed
- The remaining fights over the ad tech remedy are now on the record, mostly about timing and oversight.
- Why it matters
- How quickly AdX opens to Prebid sets how soon publishers can use alternative ad servers without losing Google demand.
- Who is affected
- Publishers, ad servers, SSPs, DSPs and agencies buying open-web display.
- Martech stack area
- Advertising
- Stack impact
- No change yet. Publishers can plan for exporting DFP configuration and bid data, which both sides agree must be possible within three months of the order taking effect.
- Business impact
- High Based on PPC Land's account of the joint filing and AdExchanger's report. The judge has not ruled on the disputed terms.
- Related technologies
- Related vendors
- What to watch
- Judge Brinkema's final judgment, and Google's appeal.
Google and the Department of Justice lodged rival proposed final judgments in one 41-page document in the ad tech case before Judge Leonie Brinkema, with disputed language in brackets. AdExchanger reported it on October 5, 2026, and PPC Land summarised the terms.
What both sides agree on
- AdX connects to Prebid and accepts bid requests from non-Google publisher ad servers on equal terms.
- Google Ads cannot bid directly into DFP and must route through AdX or Prebid.
- DFP and AdX are sold as separate contracts, and first look and last look are barred in programmatic open web display auctions.
- Unified pricing rules are banned, and publishers can export DFP configuration and historical bid data within three months of the order taking effect.
- A six-year monitoring period with system and source code access.
What they dispute
- Timing: the DOJ wants AdX opened to Prebid and to rival ad servers in 6 months; Google asks for 12.
- Geography: the DOJ wants global scope from day one; Google asks for an extra 24 months for international rollout.
- DFP data access: while a publisher is evaluating alternatives (DOJ) or only after it commits to switching (Google).
- Oversight: who proposes the monitor, the duty to cooperate, the notice period for disputes (15 or 30 days) and a defined breach.
Background
The liability ruling was April 17, 2025. The DOJ sought divestiture of AdX in November 2025; Brinkema declined it and imposed behavioral remedies. PubMatic’s CEO has estimated up to 15 months of engineering work to open AdX to Prebid.
Our read
Nothing is binding until the judge signs. The six-versus-twelve-month gap is the number to watch, because it decides when publishers get a real alternative to Google’s ad server stack.
Sources
- PPC Land: DOJ wants AdX open to Prebid in six months, Google asks for twelve (opens in a new tab)
Source of the agreed and disputed terms and the background dates. It links to the AdExchanger report of the filing.