Google revisits AdSense partners

Google is changing the default ad-tech partners in AdSense again, starting with a test on or after April 20, 2026. (support.google.com) Google said on April 6 that the experiment covers the “commonly used” set of ad technology partners and could become a permanent update on or after June 5, 2026. Google said the list is based on partners that work most closely with publishers globally and meet its privacy standards. (support.google.com) Those partners are the companies allowed to serve and measure ads in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. If a publisher does not actively choose its own list, Google’s default “commonly used” set applies. (support.google.com) Google’s AdSense help pages say publishers must identify each party that will receive user data under the European Union User Consent Policy. Google also says publishers can switch from the default list to a custom list inside Ad Manager, AdSense, or AdMob. (support.google.com) The change lands as Google keeps tightening consent rules in Europe. Google told publishers in March that all publishers and consent-management platforms had to move to version 2.3 of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe Transparency and Consent Framework by March 1, 2026, or some ad requests could be limited or dropped. (support.google.com) At the same time, Google won an early court victory in a separate fight with newspaper publishers. U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta dismissed an antitrust suit on March 20, 2026, brought by Helena World Chronicle and Emmerich Newspapers in federal court in Washington. (ppc.land) The publishers said Google used its power in search and online news to squeeze publishers through lost profits, higher production costs, and lost licensing fees. Judge Mehta said they had not shown antitrust standing because those alleged injuries were suffered as news publishers, not as participants in the search market. (pressgazette.co.uk) Judge Mehta also rejected the publishers’ attempt to define an “online news” monopoly. His ruling said their claim that Google held a 66% share of that market by counting visits to Google, YouTube, and Gemini was “utterly fanciful” and based on measures that were both overinclusive and underinclusive. (pressgazette.co.uk) That dismissal does not erase Google’s broader antitrust problems. In April 2025, a federal court ruled that Google’s conduct in parts of the online advertising technology market violated U.S. antitrust law. (axios.com) For publishers, the immediate deadline is simpler than the legal fight: check whether Google’s default partner list still matches your consent setup before the AdSense test begins on or after April 20. (support.google.com)