EU approves Google-DoubleClick deal
EU APPROVES GOOGLE-DOUBLECLICK DEAL
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Peter Sayer]
Google's acquisition of DoubleClick does not pose a significant threat to competition in the European online advertising market, the European Commission said Tuesday. However, it reminded the companies that they also have an obligation to respect European Union legislation on the privacy of personal data, one of the grounds on which opponents lobbied to block the merger. The Commission's decision removed the last obstacle to completion of the deal, which has now closed, Google said. A merger of Google and DoubleClick will not hurt competition because the companies are not competitors, the Commission said: Google provides online advertising space on its own sites and, as operator of the AdSense service, an intermediary between publishers and advertisers, while DoubleClick offers ad serving, management and reporting services to publishers, advertisers and agencies. The Commission also examined the risk of Google tying sales of its services to use of those of DoubleClick, or vice versa, to boost revenue. However, it concluded that Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL present sufficiently strong market alternatives that a merged Google-DoubleClick would be unable to exploit the link in that way.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/11/EU-approves-Google-DoubleClick...
* Center for Digital Democracy: "By failing to impose safeguards, EC regulators have helped strengthen a growing digital colossus that will now be in a dominant position to shape much of the global future of the Internet and other online media. The EC [DG Comp] appears to have embraced the FTC’s flawed analysis of the online ad market. It represents the failure of antitrust regulators to understand and respond to the growing consolidation of control over online ad delivery, data collection, and the funding of content. This decision will have profound and unfortunate consequences for the Internet’s evolving role as a democratic communications medium. EU and US antitrust regulators have also perversely set the stage for Microsoft’s goal of acquiring Yahoo!, furthering more concentration of control in the new media sector."
http://www.democraticmedia.org/jcblog/?p=488
* Google plans unspecified job cuts at DoubleClick
Google Inc plans to make an unspecified number of job cuts at DoubleClick.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1161140920080311
* Google-DoubleClick may bode well for Microsoft-Yahoo deal
With the Google-DoubleClick merger wrapped up Tuesday, Yahoo may face even greater pressure to find itself a buyout partner, according to Wall Street analysts and investors.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9891259-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2...
* Google Closes DoubleClick Deal After EU Approves
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120524277833327159.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
* Google Cleared To Buy Ad Firm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/11/AR200803...
* Google closes deal with ad firm
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20080312/1b_google12.art.htm
