E-commerce marketing · Industry brief

Google faces major antitrust enforcement across multiple fronts. The U.S. Department of Justice secured liability findings against Google for unlawfully maintaining monopolies in general search and advertising technology markets, with Judge Amit Mehta's August 2024 ruling in the search case prohibiting exclusive distribution agreements and requiring data sharing with competitors. In the separate adtech case, Judge Leonie Brinkema found in April 2025 that Google unlawfully maintained monopolies in publisher ad-server and ad-exchange markets, with the DOJ seeking divestiture of Google's AdX exchange. Google settled a $700 million Play Store case with all 50 states, and faces a private lawsuit from alternative app store Aptoide filed in April 2026 alleging Google continues anticompetitive practices over Android distribution. The remedies phase remains contested, with the DOJ pushing for structural separation while Google advocates behavioral remedies; the adtech case remedies decision has not yet been issued as of August 2026. Google has appealed liability and remedies rulings to the D.C. Circuit. The broader pattern shows intensified antitrust scrutiny of dominant digital platforms. The FTC's separate case against Meta over Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions resulted in Meta's victory in November 2025 when the court found the FTC failed to prove current monopoly power, though the FTC appealed. The DOJ's case against Apple over smartphone ecosystem restrictions remains active after a New Jersey judge denied Apple's motion to dismiss in June 2025. Legal experts note that precedent will depend more on structural remedies than liability findings, with implications for how platforms can structure exclusive agreements, data sharing, self-preferencing, and vertical integration going forward.

Vietnam's e-commerce sector is undergoing regulatory changes with the implementation of Decree No. 248/2026/ND-CP, which took effect on 1 July 2026. The decree establishes key compliance requirements for e-commerce platforms, including platform operator responsibilities, registration and operational requirements for domestic and foreign platforms, foreign investment conditions for platform management activities, and licensing requirements for e-contract authentication services. Businesses operating in Vietnam's e-commerce market need to review their platform models and operational arrangements to ensure compliance with the new regulatory framework (source: Indochine Counsel Industry Spotlight).

DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division issued Directive 26-12 in October 2026, significantly escalating corporate enforcement with centralized oversight, enhanced whistleblower incentives, and data-driven investigations. The directive identifies four enforcement priorities: health care fraud, public trust and financial integrity (including procurement and government contracts), internal revenue evasion, and trade/supply-chain misconduct. Prosecutors must give "great weight" to ten factors when charging decisions, including management knowledge of misconduct, concealment efforts, conduct duration, financial harm thresholds, and victim impact. Companies should strengthen compliance programs addressing DOJ's stated priorities, reinforce internal whistleblower channels with anti-retaliation protections, engage outside counsel earlier to navigate disclosure obligations within the Corporate Enforcement Policy's compressed timelines, and prepare for data-driven multi-agency investigations. The directive signals increased scrutiny of government contractors' certifications, billing practices, and small business program compliance, with potential issues from audits and internal investigations now subject to earlier criminal review coordination.