In an awkward court filing, Google has admitted that internet advertising in a tailspin - declaring that "the open web is already in rapid decline." The otherwise-hidden admission, unearthed by Search Engine Roundtable, comes as Google fights to keep its ad tech empire intact against the Justice Department’s push for a breakup. Apparently, the tech giant wants to save the open web -unless, of course, it’s inconvenient for its bottom line.

The filing, as reported by The Verge, reads like a tech dystopian novel:

Finally, while Plaintiffs continue to advance essentially the same divestiture remedies they noticed in their complaint filed in January 2023, the world has continued to turn. Plaintiffs put forth remedies as if trial, the Court’s liability decision, and remedies discovery never happened—and also as if the incredibly dynamic ad tech ecosystem had stood still while these judicial proceedings continued. But the changes have been many: AI is reshaping ad tech at every level; non-open web display ad formats like Connected TV and retail media are exploding in popularity; and Google’s competitors are directing their investments to these new growth areas. The fact is that 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.

This doomsday vibe is a head-scratcher given Google’s earlier comments. In June, Nick Fox, Google’s senior vice president of knowledge and information, was practically waving pom-poms, telling podcasters, "From our point of view, the web is thriving. There's probably no company that cares more about the health and the future of the web than Google." Fox then doubled down, adding, "We see this in the data. People are still very actively clicking through to the web." This was Google’s retort to studies claiming AI was gutting traffic to newsletters and other sites—studies it breezily dismissed as bunk.

In April we noted that small business owners are reeling as Google's AI-powered search is eliminating the need for people to actually go to various websites. 

So what's with the new admission? Spokesperson Jackie Berté told The Verge the filings' grim line was taken out of context. "The one cherry-picked line that misrepresents [the filing]," Berté claimed, "It’s clear from the preceding sentence that we’re referring to ‘open-web display advertising’ and not the open web as a whole."

"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," she added.

Translation: Google’s not panicking about the whole internet, just the parts it doesn’t dominate - yet.

Meanwhile, Alphabet’s stock continues to move higher after a Friday ruling from U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that sounds bad on its face, but turned out to be a massive gift. In a 230-page decision, Mehta barred Google from exclusive contracts for its Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and Gemini app products, aiming to chip away at its search monopoly. 

But the ruling fell far short of some of the most contentious demands from the US government.

Mehta said Google would not have to divest from Chrome or Android.

"Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints," Mehta wrote in the Tuesday ruling.

Additionally, Mehta ruled that Google must hand over its search results and some of its data to rival companies