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Google faces antitrust scrutiny as Yahoo profits fall
A white paper has been released that looks at the antitrust implications of Google's $3.1 billion takeover of online advertising firm DoubleClick.
Scott Cleland, the chairman of NETCompetition.org, unveiled the ten-page document that looks at what it sees as Google's strategy to get rid of competitors in a way that will probably not be scrutinised by government.
By purchasing DoubleClick Google stole a march on rival Microsoft (also believed to have bid $3.1 billion) and gained an enormous market share of the display ad market, traditionally dominated by Yahoo.
"Google's acquisition of DoubleClick provides a rare glimpse into Google's imperial ambitions, which is to leverage its dominance in search to dominate the overall internet advertising marketplace," said Mr Cleland.
He believes that the DoubleClick deal "skilfully exploits antitrust law's weak underbelly, so it is unlikely to be blocked by the government".
Google's argument is that the Double Click acquisition does not create a monopoly of the search engine market as it deals with a different kind of online advertising.
Meanwhile Yahoo posted a surprising 11 per cent drop in first quarter profits. Analysts are speculating that its new advertising system, Panama, has yet to truly take hold. Second quarter net revenue was forecast at between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion.
Businesses wanting to claim their own share by boosting search rankings can use link building.
Online Advertising news posted on 19 April 2007
