Yahoo-Google test gets antitrust scrutiny

Yahoo's short experiment with outsourcing some of its Web-search ads to Google has drawn scrutiny from antitrust regulators, the companies said Wednesday. Yahoo and Google said they had provided the Justice Department with unspecified information in response to questions about the two-week test, which was designed to explore how a possible collaboration could help Yahoo thwart Microsoft Corp.'s takeover bid. Yahoo management doesn't want to sell to Microsoft. It has sought alternatives, including trying to boost the profitability of its search-engine advertising by outsourcing some of its results to market leader Google. Yahoo said the test, which ended Wednesday, would involve no more than 3% of its search results. But any combination of Google and Yahoo, the top two search engines, raises antitrust concerns. The extent of the inquiry by the Justice Department was unclear Wednesday. Neither Google nor Yahoo would say what type of questions the antitrust regulators asked. Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona would say only that the agency was "aware of the collaboration."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-search24apr24,1,5114069.story
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