Google gets US regulatory nod for DoubleClick deal
21 Dec 2007
Mumbai: The US Federal Trade Commission has approved Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, and ruled the deal did not pose a threat to competition in internet advertising.
The FTC voted 4 to 1, ending an eight-month investigation of the deal combining Google's pay-per-click internet advertising and DoubleClick's flashy display ads.
"After carefully reviewing the evidence, we have concluded that Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick is unlikely to substantially lessen competition," the commission said in its majority ruling.
The FTC also cleared the merger from the consumer privacy issue, saying that the evidence did not show the merger would pose a problem.
"We want to be clear, however, that we will closely watch these markets and, should Google engage in unlawful tying or other anticompetitive conduct, the commission intends to act quickly," it said.
The transaction still faces scrutiny from European regulators. Google, however, expects approval from the European Commission as well.
"This acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said.
The FTC, meanwhile, proposed marketing ethics that would allow users to refuse to allow their data to be collected and require companies to provide "reasonable security" for the data.