For months, Google has insisted that the open web is thriving, search is healthy, and AI has not harmed publishers’ traffic. Yet in a court filing submitted last week, the company admitted that “the open web is already in rapid decline.”

The admission was noted by Jason Kint and first reported by Search Engine Roundtable. It was filed ahead of the next trial in the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust case, which centers on whether Google holds an illegal monopoly in the advertising technology sector.

The Department of Justice has proposed that Google should be required to divest parts of its advertising business. In its filing, Google countered that this remedy would “only accelerate” the decline of the open web, arguing that publishers who depend on open-web display advertising revenue would be harmed.

Google’s filing stated:

“The fact is that today, the open web is already in rapid decline and Plaintiffs’ divestiture proposal would only accelerate that decline, harming publishers who currently rely on open-web display advertising revenue. As the law makes clear, the last thing a court should do is intervene to reshape an industry that is already in the midst of being reshaped by market forces.”

The company pointed to three forces transforming advertising: the growth of AI in ad tech, the rise of connected TV advertising, and the expansion of retail media platforms.

The statement marks a sharp departure from Google’s recent public narrative, which emphasized that its search engine is sending more traffic than ever to a wider range of websites.

In an emailed response to The Verge, Google spokesperson Jackie Berté sought to narrow the meaning of the court language. She said the line is “one cherry-picked line that misrepresents” the filing.

“It’s clear from the preceding sentence that we’re referring to ‘open-web display advertising’ and not the open web as a whole,” Berté said. “We are pointing out the obvious: that investments in non-open web display advertising like connected TV and retail media are growing at the expense of those in open web display advertising.”

Google’s courtroom framing also reflects a real-world problem for publishers. Independent website owners and digital media outlets have reported declines in traffic, tied both to Google Search algorithm changes and the rise of AI chatbots that answer user queries directly without sending visitors to external sites.

The gap between Google’s public defense of the web’s health and its private courtroom admission of decline highlights the pressure facing publishers. For many, shifts in advertising dollars away from the open web and toward closed platforms are reshaping how sustainable online publishing can be.

Q: What did Google admit in court?
A: Google stated in a court filing that “the open web is already in rapid decline,” contradicting its public claims of a thriving web.

Q: What is the DOJ’s case about?
A: The Department of Justice argues that Google maintains a monopoly in advertising technology and has proposed breaking up its ad business.

Q: How did Google respond to DOJ remedies?
A: Google said divestiture would “accelerate” the decline of the open web, harming publishers reliant on display ad revenue.

Q: What changes are reshaping advertising?
A: AI in ad tech, connected TV advertising, and retail media are growing, often at the expense of open-web display ads.

Q: How are publishers affected?
A: Many publishers report traffic declines from Google Search changes and the rise of AI chatbots that keep users within platforms.

Google’s admission underscores a turning point for the open web. Even as the company defends its business model publicly, it is acknowledging in court that AI disruption, ad tech shifts, and platform migration are eroding the foundation of the publisher-driven online economy.

For publishers, the stakes are high: as audiences shift to AI assistants, closed apps, and non-web ad formats, sustaining revenue through open-web display advertising is becoming harder.

For regulators, the case raises a deeper question: whether breaking up Google’s ad business would restore competition or simply hasten the decline of the very system they seek to protect.

Either way, the filing makes clear that the future of the open web is no longer guaranteed — and the outcome of this case could shape how information, advertising, and publishing survive in the age of AI.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiroo’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.