In this antitrust slugfest, consumers always lose

[Commentary] Before Google could buy DoubleClick and AdMob, the Internet giant needed to get antitrust approval from the Federal Trade Commission. But when Google wanted to buy ITA, a leading maker of travel software, the review was conducted by a different agency: the antitrust division of the Justice Department. It was also Justice that earlier nixed the idea of a merger with Yahoo.

Now both agencies appear to be quietly, and separately, laying the groundwork for a much broader investigation to determine whether Google is using anti-competitive practices to protect its dominance in the Internet search business. The leaders of both agencies would like nothing more than to bring a high-profile case that would take its place in history along with the government’s landmark challenges of Standard Oil, IBM, AT&T, Microsoft and Intel. The FTC appears to have won the initial coin toss on this round, but don't count out the team from Justice just yet. Gee, I thought the idea of the antitrust laws was to encourage competition between businesses, not regulators.