Google-Yahoo ad deal faces intense scrutiny

Google and Yahoo have structured an alliance that cleverly gets around the immediate antitrust pitfalls that stem from linking the two biggest Internet search companies. However, the two face a tough ride in Washington over the longer-term implications of a link that could further strengthen Google’s grip on a market it already dominates. Much will depend on whether advertisers and publishers are alarmed enough about this long-term risk to lobby against the deal. Yahoo’s decision came as a disappointment to media companies, which had hoped an acquisition of the company by Microsoft would establish a stronger competitor to Google and give them leverage to negotiate better terms for search and other online advertising deals. The Department of Justice now has three and a half months – the length of time Google and Yahoo said they would allow before going ahead with the alliance – to weigh up the strength of those concerns.
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