Advertisers opposes Yahoo-Google ad deal; authorities may take antitrust action
09 September 2008
It seems that rival Microsoft is not the only vocal opponent to the recent Yahoo-Google advertising tie-up. A trade association representing the biggest advertisers in the US has sent a letter to anti-trust regulators opposing the deal saying such a collaboration would be akin to a monopoly controlling as much as 90 per cent of search advertising inventory in the country.
(See: Yahoo strikes $800-million ad deal with Google, ends talks with Microsoft and Microsoft opposes Yahoo-Google deal, reveals another rejected stake plus search offer)
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) said Monday its board has registered with the US Department of Justice its opposition to the much-publicized deal. The ANA is a trade association that represents 375 companies with 9,000 brands that collectively spend over $150 billion in marketing communications and advertising.
New York-based ANA said it sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Thomas O Barnett, citing concerns "that the partnership will likely diminish competition, increase concentration of market power, limit choices currently available and potentially raise prices to advertisers for high quality, affordable search advertising."
ANA said it "conducted a comprehensive, independent analysis designed to represent the perspectives of the broad advertiser/marketer community. It included input from the board's members and face-to-face discussions with Google and Yahoo."
''We believe that the overall impact of this deal is a negative for advertisers and the marketplace,'' said Robert Liodice, ANA president and CEO.
This letter has been interpreted in the US as a blow to the deal because until now major marketers have been reluctant to publicly voice disapproval because of Google's power in the online advertising market.
"We are disappointed with the ANA board's position regarding Yahoo's non-exclusive search marketing agreement with Google," said Yahoo in a statement.
