double-click

European regulators are expected to approve Google's proposed acquisition of online ad firm DoubleClick in February despite circulation of a threat assessment report, according to a research note released Thursday by Stifel Nicolaus.

Google was given the go-ahead by U.S. regulators late last year, but it's still waiting for approval from the European Union.

Staff members in the competition department of the European Commission have prepared a draft "Statement of Objection" that assesses how the takeover could pose threats to competition. "It is a necessary, but not sufficient, step in the EC merger review … Read more

The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday that Google's controversial $3.1 billion merger proposal with DoubleClick can proceed, despite earlier complaints raised by competitors and privacy advocates. See full News.com story.

Federal Trade Commission regulators said Thursday that Google's controversial $3.1 billion merger proposal with DoubleClick can proceed, despite earlier complaints raised by competitors and privacy advocates.

FTC regulators have been reviewing the proposed merger for months for possible antitrust violations, after Google announced plans in April to acquire the online ad serving company.

"After carefully reviewing the evidence, we have concluded that Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick is unlikely to substantially lessen competition" in the online advertising space, the commissioners wrote in their majority statement.

The vote was 4-1, with Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour issuing … Read more

At a Capitol Hill hearing in September, Microsoft's top lawyer skewered the proposed merger of Google and DoubleClick as a sure path to an online advertising monopoly.

"One company will become the overwhelming dominant gateway that connects the universe of online advertisers to the millions of websites that display ads," general counsel Brad Smith told a U.S. Senate antitrust panel in his prepared remarks.

Now Google is pointing to a new, $500 million ad deal between Redmond and Viacom on Wednesday as proof positive that there's plenty of competition in the online ad market--a not-so-thinly-veiled … Read more

As part of a wide-ranging deal announced Wednesday, Microsoft has licensed TV and movie content from Viacom, which in turn will let Redmond serve up ads on its U.S. Web sites.

The arrangement means that Viacom will use Microsoft's Atlas technology to deliver ads to those sites. Microsoft acquired Atlas as part of its $6 billion Aquantive purchase. Additionally, Microsoft will have the exclusive right to market Viacom's unsold display advertising space.

Microsoft, meanwhile, will be able to put shows from MTV and Comedy Central and movies from Paramount Pictures onto various products, such as MSN and … Read more

In the seemingly waning days of the U.S. government's antitrust review of the Google-DoubleClick union, consumer groups are lodging a last-minute plea: don't forget about privacy.

That was the message during a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning hosted by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy.

The directors of those groups, who predicted a decision by the Federal Trade Commission is "imminent," voiced concern that the FTC may overlook the potential privacy implications raised by the combined user massive data stores of the two prominent companies. (The two Washington-based groups, … Read more

Updated at 3:00 p.m. PST with additional legal ethics expert opinion.

FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said Friday that she will not recuse herself from hearing the Google-DoubleClick merger case, arguing that the fact her husband's law firm is representing DoubleClick doesn't merit her recusal.

In a statement posted Friday to the FTC's Web site, Majoras said that her husband's law firm, Jones Day, is not representing DoubleClick before the FTC and noted that her husband is no longer an equity partner in the firm, meaning that his pay will in no way be … Read more

A political controversy over deleted documents and conflicts of interest could, opponents of the deal hope, imperil Google's planned $3.1 billion acquisition of the DoubleClick advertising firm.

The most recent round started with my colleague Elinor Mills' article on Wednesday afternoon, which noted that two liberal groups opposed to the merger asked Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras to recuse herself from a vote because her husband is a partner at the Jones Day law firm, which is representing DoubleClick. Majoras recused herself from a previous matter involving Procter & Gamble because Jones Day was involved.

That … Read more

Two privacy groups are asking the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to recuse herself from the agency's review of Google's proposed acquisition of online ad firm DoubleClick because her husband's law firm is advising DoubleClick on antitrust.

In addition, FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras used to work at the law firm, called Jones Day, according to a complaint about the matter sent to the FTC on Wednesday by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy.

Majoras' husband, John M. Majoras, is an equity partner with Jones Day and is in charge of … Read more