Google's DoubleClick deal under FTC spotlight

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Making many of its competitors' dreams come true, Google's recent $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick is being looked at by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has asked for additional information about the deal, the search giant confirmed today.

Following news of Google's intentions to buy the web ad specialist its rivals came out in droves to voice their concerns about how it could affect the market and, ultimately, users.

"This proposed acquisition raises serious competition and privacy concerns. We think this merger deserves close scrutiny from regulatory authorities to ensure a competitive online advertising market, said Brad Smith, Microsoft's senior vice president and general counsel, in a statement at the time.

The software giant itself was engaged in somewhat of a bidding war with Google to buy DoubleClick before the final deal was struck. Since then, it has purchased online ad supremo aQuantive for $6 billion.

Google is not saying much about what the FTC is investigating but appears confident that the deal will still go ahead as planned by the end of the year.

"We are confident that upon further review the FTC will conclude that this acquisition poses no risk to competition and should be approved," said Don Harrison, Google's senior corporate counsel, in a statement.

"Numerous independent analysts and academics have determined after looking at this acquisition that the online advertising industry is a dynamic and evolving space - as evidenced by a number of recently announced acquisitions - and that rich competition in this industry will bring more relevant ads to consumers and more choices for advertisers and web site publishers."

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