Google Set To Get DoubleClick Approval As Christmas Present
Duncan Riley
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will rule in favor of Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, possibly as soon as this week, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg.
The FTC has been investigating the acquisition on competition grounds since it was first announced in April. A number of high profile respondents argued against the acquisition, including AT&T and Microsoft, and in July Scott Cleland of telecom research group Prescursor presented a strong case arguing against the merger.
At the time we noted:
The FTC has acted against anti-competitive behavior in the tech industry before (most notably with Microsoft), however the FTC under the Bush Administration has become far more laissez faire towards business practices than it was in the past. It won’t be all clear sailing for Google, but given recent history it would be surprising if the FTC did block Google’s DoubleClick acquisition.
The acquisition has already been cleared by authorities in Australia, but still faces regulatory review in Europe.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:14 pm