Google Ad Tech Antitrust Remedy Trial & Advertiser Boycott Litigation

DOJ seeks breakup of Google ad tech stack; remedy trial underway; Google argues AI changes market; Trump nominates Candeub (nomination faces 'rubber stamp' charge); GARM boycott lawsuit settled; EU DMA fine triggers private damages. Ninth Circuit affirms dismissal of Unlockd antitrust case—market definition high bar. DOJ pushes for payment ban in remedy trial. Analysis: billion-dollar fines may not dent Google's dominance. Big Tech's AI capex surge (Alphabet $75B, Meta $65B) raises questions about ad revenue sustainability and investor pressure, adding financial context to antitrust dynamics. New: Teads files lawsuit against Google seeking damages following EDVA antitrust ruling, becoming the fourth SSP (after Magnite, OpenX, PubMatic) to do so; cases consolidated in SDNY. Google asserts statute of limitations defense. EU parallel €2.95B case ongoing. This signals accelerating private enforcement that could reshape remedy negotiations and damages exposure. New: X (Twitter) appeals to 5th Circuit to revive its advertiser boycott lawsuit against individual advertisers, arguing district court's 'loss to competitors is not antitrust injury' ruling sets too high a bar. With ad revenue plummeting from $1.08B to $367M, the outcome could reshape advertiser coordination and brand safety liability. Market signals: Criteo cuts full-year guidance again amid ad tech sector bifurcation, with $75M retail media client headwind and enterprise spending cuts, reflecting real market pressures that affect compliance priorities. New: AI ad market earnings analysis shows Google, Amazon, Meta, Criteo view AI as ad surface vs. improvement tool; Criteo-OpenAI partnership and Amazon Sponsored Prompts data.