European Union regulators will decide before November whether to clear Google Inc.’s $3.1 billion takeover bid for online ad tracker DoubleClick or study the issue further.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/09/24/1190486226585.html
http://www.thestate.com/technology-wire/story/182099.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092400284.htmlAlso see:
US Senate Hearing To Examine Emerging Google-opoly
Thursday’s hearing could lead to a round of questions surrounding Google’s market might and its business tactics, one analyst firm suggestsThis Thursday’s Senate hearing on the Google-DoubleClick deal could portend more government scrutiny of the online search company and even imperil the entire targeted online-ad model, according to some experts.Announced last April, the $3.1 billion agreement to purchase DoubleClick — the New York City-based online ad-placement service — represents the strongest evidence to date of Google’s intentions, and ability, to dominate online advertising. The deal has raised antitrust concerns in the United States, where the Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing the deal, as well as in the European Union and Australia. Titled “An Examination of the Google-DoubleClick Merger and the Online Advertising Industry: What Are the Risks for Competition and Privacy?”, Thursday’s hearing will focus at least as much on privacy issues as on the anti-competitive aspects of the acquisition, according to a spokesman from the office of Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s sub-committee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.
http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202101072