US Department of Justice and Google Dispute Deadline to Open AdX to Competitors

The US Department of Justice and Google submitted competing versions of the final text for the remedy order in the AdX advertising platform case, in a single 41-page filing that Judge Leonie Brinkema must rule on line by line.

Both parties agree that the AdX platform must connect to the open Prebid platform, that Google ads must pass through AdX or Prebid, and that DFP and AdX services must be sold as separate contracts.

However, they disagree on the timeframe for implementing the integration with Prebid—whether it should take six or twelve months—as well as whether the remedies will be applied globally from day one, and the method by which publishers export their data from DFP. A 60-day implementation period will begin as soon as the judge signs the order.

These remedies affect every publisher relying on programmatic advertising, including publishers in the Arab region, as they define the shape of competition in ad auctions on the open web. However, it remains a step in a well-known case, and its actual impact is expected to become clear after the final order is issued.

What do these terms mean?

AdX: Google's ad exchange platform that connects publishers with advertisers in automated auctions.

Prebid: An open standard that allows publishers to run their own ad auctions instead of relying on a single platform.

DFP: Google's tool for managing publishers' ads and arranging their placements on their pages.

Programmatic Advertising: Buying and selling ads automatically in real-time auctions without manual negotiation.