[IDG] Google Inc.’s proposed merger with online advertising server DoubleClick Inc. would create a giant that would control a huge portion of online advertising and hurt the Internet, opponents of the deal told U.S. lawmakers today.The merger, proposed in April, would create “extreme market concentration,” said Scott Cleland, chairman of NetCompetition.org, an advocacy group representing large broadband providers. The merger would leave online advertisers with “no real competitive choice,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.
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Google-DoubleClick Deal Gets Chilly Reception on Capitol Hill
Google and Microsoft squared off as usual Thursday, but this time instead of the competitive battlefield, they met on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are weighing the question of whether Google’s purchase of DoubleClick will create an unfair online advertising monopoly. Representatives of both companies testified before a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary — which reviews antitrust cases — examining the deal and its implications for consumers, both in terms of antimonopoly laws and potential risks to consumer privacy.
http://ecommercetimes.com/story/Y66t85I4pEmGI6/Google-DoubleClick-Deal-Gets-Chilly-Reception-on-Capitol-Hill.xhtml
US Senate Searches Google
On Thursday, U.S. senators asked the question that’s rattled the online ad industry for months: Is Google becoming too powerful?Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) led a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee to explore whether the proposed acquisition by Google of the online display ad broker DoubleClick will stifle competition in the explosively growing Web advertising market and pose a threat to consumer privacy. The hearing, which may influence the Federal Trade Commission’s decision on whether to block the deal, gave rise to a sharp debate among representatives of Google, Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT – news – people ) and third-party agencies lining up on either side of the growing schism.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/09/27/google-doubleclick-antitrust-tech-internet-cx_ag_0927techgoogle.html