October 6, 2008 by Matt Thomas
An antitrust investigation launched by the US Justice Department has uncovered a general sense of annoyance and apprehension about the proposed Google/Yahoo advertising deal amongst some of the main industry associations and agencies in advertising. This is particularly worrying for Google as they are exactly the people whose business they will need in order to make the deal work in practice.
The opposition stems mainly from a fear that prices will rise, though rumblings have also been heard about the increased dominance of the industry that Google will enjoy as a result of the move and even the overall fairness of Google’s auction-based system, used for placing search ads.
Numerous groups have criticised the deal, though so far only the Association of National Advertisers, which represents some of the biggest advertisers in the US, has actually called for it to be blocked. This could be seen as evidence of the fact that the industry is not completely agreed on its opposition to the deal. In fact, many are cautiously supporting it or at least applauding anything that makes Yahoo a more viable competitor.
The Justice Department’s review will probably conclude before the end of the month. The ruling will be important for Google in both the short and the long term as, beyond the immediate deal with Yahoo, it will establish a precedent for what can and can’t be done in the emerging search advertising industry.
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