US DoJ wants Google to sell two of its ad products

The U.S. Department of Justice is proposing that Google sell two of its advertising products to restore competition in the ad tech space, according to a new filing. The proposal comes after a judge found Google guilty of “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in the digital ad space last month. The DOJ’s filing notes that Google should divest its ad exchange product AdX, along with a “phased” sale of DoubleClick for Publishers, an ad server for website publishers. The department also wants Google to avoid running an ad exchange for 10 years post the sale of AdX. The DOJ alleged Google had “ensured that publishers would lose significant revenue if they did not use AdX.” It also accused the search giant of creating a monopoly by integrating AdX and DFP, forcing websites to use Google’s publisher product. The proposal also directed Google to open up its ad buying tools, including AdWords, and have them work with all third-party ad tech products “on non-discriminatory term ... Read full article.