Google defensive about Doubleclick takeover

Source: Exec Digital UK

Date :28/09/2007 10:51:15

Microsoft yesterday urged a US Senate panel to oppose Google's acquisition of online advertising firm DoubleClick, saying that the $3.1 billion deal threatens competition and privacy.

‘Scrutiny’

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith damned the proposed deal during a hearing led by a senator who warned the acquisition "warrants close examination."

"If Google and DoubleClick are allowed to merge, Google will become the overwhelmingly dominant pipeline for all forms of online advertising," Smith told Senator Herb Kohl yesterday.

"This merger will almost certainly result in higher profits for the operator of the dominant advertising pipeline, but it will be bad for everyone else," he continued.

However David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer defended the deal by stating the two companies were complimentary and not direct competitors.

‘Confident’

"We are confident, and numerous independent analysts have agreed, that our purchase of DoubleClick does not raise antitrust issues," Drummond testified.

"DoubleClick is to Google what FedEx is to Amazon. Our current business involves selling text-based ads – books in our analogy. DoubleClick's business is to deliver and report on display ads."

September 28, 2007

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