Google spared from ad-business breakup, but judge orders changes to how it operates

谷歌免于被拆分广告业务，但法官下令其调整运营方式

The Justice Department has spent years attempting to break up Google’s gargantuan advertising business across two separate antitrust lawsuits: one filed in 2020 focused on Google’s dominance in search, and a second filed in 2023 that specifically targeted Google’s ad-technology business. Both cases argued that the search giant’s grip on the digital ad economy represents an illegal monopoly. 美国司法部多年来一直试图通过两起独立的反垄断诉讼拆分谷歌庞大的广告业务：一起于2020年提起，重点关注谷歌在搜索领域的主导地位；另一起于2023年提起，专门针对谷歌的广告技术业务。这两起案件均主张，这家搜索巨头对数字广告经济的掌控构成了非法垄断。

Courts have largely sided with the government in both cases. In 2024, a court determined that Google’s search business, including its exceedingly lucrative search-ad operation, was an illegal monopoly, claiming that the tech giant had “exercised its monopoly power” to dominate the search industry and search ads. Last April, a second court case — this one focused specifically on Google’s ad-tech business — also came to the same conclusion. 法院在两起案件中大多支持了政府的立场。2024年，法院裁定谷歌的搜索业务（包括其利润极其丰厚的搜索广告业务）属于非法垄断，称这家科技巨头“行使其垄断权力”以主导搜索行业和搜索广告。去年4月，第二起专门针对谷歌广告技术业务的诉讼也得出了同样的结论。

Following the 2024 ruling, Justice Department officials suggested a variety of ways Google’s search business could be broken up, including divesting its Chrome browser and Android operating system. But in September 2025, the judge overseeing that case, Amit Mehta, rejected those divestiture requests, ruling that Google could keep both Chrome and Android. He did order the company to end exclusive default-placement deals and share certain search data with competitors (remedies that Google is currently appealing). 在2024年的裁决之后，司法部官员提出了多种拆分谷歌搜索业务的方式，包括剥离其Chrome浏览器和Android操作系统。但在2025年9月，负责该案的法官阿米特·梅塔（Amit Mehta）驳回了这些剥离请求，裁定谷歌可以保留Chrome和Android。他确实下令该公司终止独家默认放置协议，并与竞争对手共享部分搜索数据（谷歌目前正在对这些补救措施提出上诉）。

That same pattern held this week. In a ruling handed down on Wednesday, federal judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia, who oversaw the ad-tech case, said that Google would be able to keep its advertising business. Instead of selling it, the search giant will instead be required to adjust its business practices to favor competitors, Brinkema said. The New York Times notes that the judge’s ruling “did not provide specifics” as to how Google should go about doing that. 本周的情况如出一辙。在周三下达的一项裁决中，负责广告技术案件的弗吉尼亚州东区联邦法官莱奥妮·M·布林克马（Leonie M. Brinkema）表示，谷歌将能够保留其广告业务。布林克马表示，这家搜索巨头无需出售该业务，但必须调整其商业行为以支持竞争对手。《纽约时报》指出，法官的裁决“并未提供具体细节”，说明谷歌应如何落实这些要求。

Brinkema’s full written ruling will remain under seal for 14 days to allow those involved to issue necessary redactions. Her finding that Google had acted illegally in maintaining its ad-tech business dates back to April of last year; this week’s decision addressed only the remedy. 布林克马完整的书面裁决将封存14天，以便相关方进行必要的删减。她关于谷歌在维持其广告技术业务方面存在非法行为的认定可追溯至去年4月；本周的裁决仅针对补救措施。

Unsurprisingly, Google framed the outcome as a win. Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president for regulatory affairs, told TechCrunch: “We’re very pleased the Court rejected the DOJ’s proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow.” 不出所料，谷歌将这一结果描述为一场胜利。谷歌负责监管事务的副总裁李-安妮·穆霍兰（Lee-Anne Mulholland）告诉TechCrunch：“我们非常高兴法院驳回了司法部拆分那些帮助小企业触达新客户并实现增长的工具的提议。”

The online advertising ecosystem is notoriously opaque and byzantine and, for most people unfamiliar with its complexities, difficult to grasp. Much of the government’s ad-tech case against Google revolved around the company’s tactics to ensure that its search engine was the default engine in devices across the world, which in turn helped its ad business dominate as well. 在线广告生态系统以不透明和错综复杂而闻名，对于大多数不熟悉其复杂性的人来说，很难理解。政府针对谷歌的广告技术诉讼，很大程度上围绕着该公司确保其搜索引擎成为全球设备默认引擎的策略，这反过来也帮助其广告业务占据了主导地位。

To do this, Google used exclusive agreements with device manufacturers, which made it the default search engine across huge swaths of the mobile phone market, the government has argued. Google also entered into revenue sharing agreements with mobile carriers — deals where carriers earned a cut of ad revenue in exchange for keeping Google as the default — that further cemented its position as the de facto search engine across phone markets. 政府辩称，为了做到这一点，谷歌与设备制造商签订了独家协议，使其成为移动电话市场中绝大部分设备的默认搜索引擎。谷歌还与移动运营商签订了收入分成协议——即运营商通过保留谷歌作为默认搜索引擎来换取广告收入分成——这进一步巩固了其作为手机市场事实上的搜索引擎的地位。