What’s in and what’s out in the Google ad tech antitrust reckoning 

By now, the contours of the Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Google’s ad tech business are well covered – and deeply complex. Rather than rehash what’s already been parsed to death, here’s a definite (if not exhaustive) rundown of what’s actually in play as the case moves into its next chapter. 

In
Publishers suing platforms 
Out 
Platforms strong-arming publishers

In 
Proposing to buy Google’s ad exchange
Out
Proposing to buy Google’s browser

In 
Publisher CEOs publicly rebuking Google 
Out 
Publisher CEOs privately rebuking Google 

In 
Cloudflare

Out
AppNexus

In 
Big tech breakup remedies
Out 
Big tech behavioral remedies 

In 
Saying the open web is dying
Out 
Saying the open web is evolving

In
Publishers hiring AI negotiators 
Out
Publishers hiring platform wranglers 

In 
Anticipating a world without Google-owned Adx
Out 
Dreaming of a world without Google-owned Adx

In 
Pragmatic about Google not owning its ad server
Outside
Angry over Google owning an ad server

In 
U.S. President Donald Trump defending Google
Out 
U.S. President Donald Trump lambasting Google

In
Google proposing to decouple its ad exchange from its ad server
Out 
Google proposing to spin out its ad exchange from its ad server

In
Publishers pointing fingers at Google over traffic losses
Out
Publishers pointing fingers at Google over cookie policy 

In
Waiting another several years for remedies to arrive 
Out
Waiting several years for regulators to arrive 

In
Ad server migration nightmares 

Out
Ad server monopoly nightmares 

Out 
Backchannel diplomacy 

In
Courtroom catharsis 

In
Escrow accounts FTW 
Out 
Publisher layoffs FTL

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