Senate to Review Google/Yahoo Ad Venture
Senate Antitrust Subcommittee to Examine Joint Venture Between Internet-Search Giants
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/13/2008 4:37:00 AM
The advertising partnership between Internet-search giants Google and Yahoo will get a once-over from Congress.
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, said Friday that his committee would "closely examine" the joint venture, adding that the combination of "two technology giants and direct competitors for Internet advertising and search services raises important competition concerns."
Google said Thursday that it would give Yahoo nonexclusive access to its Adsense ad-display technologies for search and content advertising and work to make their respective instant-messaging services more interoperable.
Google added that it has been in contact with regulators about the deal, which it insisted is pro-competitive. "Toyota sells its hybrid technology to General Motors," Google said in a statement Thursday, "even though they are the Nos. 1 and 2 car manufacturers globally. Canon provides laser-printer engines for HP despite also competing in the broader laser-printer market. Google and Yahoo will continue to be vigorous competitors, and that competition will help to fuel innovation that is good for users."
