When you see an ad on a website or app, there's a complex behind-the-scenes marketplace that decides which ad you see and how much the advertiser pays — and a handful of tech giants currently control almost every side of that transaction. This bill targets companies with more than $20 billion in annual digital advertising revenue (primarily Google) and would force them to stop acting as buyer, seller, and marketplace at the same time. In practice, that means a company running an ad exchange could no longer also run the tools that advertisers and publishers use to buy and sell ads through that exchange — they'd have to divest one side or the other. Companies with over $5 billion in digital ad revenue would also face new transparency rules, including a duty to act in their customers' best interest, disclose routing and pricing data on request, and publish quarterly reports on how they handle ad transactions. The bill includes enforcement by the Attorney General, state attorneys general, and a private right of action for harmed customers, with damages of at least $1 million per month of violation.
Congressional Summary
Advertising Middlemen Endangering Rigorous Internet Competition Accountability Act or the AMERICA ActThis bill limits certain large digital advertising companies from owning multiple types of advertising exchanges or brokerages and imposes certain duties with respect to the interests of the customers of such brokerages. Advertising exchanges and brokerages generally facilitate advertisers and publishers in buying and selling advertising inventory through an automated bidding process.Specifically, companies with more than $20 billion in annual digital advertising revenue are prohibited from owning more than one type of service within the digital advertising marketplace. For example, a company, such as Google, may not own a digital advertising exchange and provide software that assists publishers of online advertisements in selling advertising space on their websites.Additionally, companies with more than $5 billion in annual digital advertising revenue that provide brokerage services to buyers or sellers of digital advertisements must act in the best interest of their brokerage customers. The bill also establishes transparency and privacy requirements for such brokerages.The bill provides for enforcement of these requirements by the Department of Justice, state attorneys general, and private right of action.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-03-13
- Date Added
- 2026-04-06