Googling 'Monopoly'

GOOGLING 'MONOPOLY'
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Lenard & Paul Rubin, Progress and Freedom Foundation]
[Commentary] In the last few months, the three most prominent players in the world of online advertising have each announced major acquisitions: Google-DoubleClick, Microsoft-aQuantive, and Yahoo-Right Media. Yet the Google deal has stirred the most controversy and is currently being scrutinized by the Federal Trade Commission. Merger reviews are difficult when the markets are rapidly changing, as they clearly are here. Internet advertising is growing rapidly -- up 38% globally in the last year. As TV and the Internet converge, the market will expand even more dramatically. Those who complain about Google's purchase of DoubleClick make two claims. Both are flawed. The first argument is that, since both firms have a large market share of their respective spheres, a merger would be monopolistic. The second argument comes from privacy advocates who say the merger "could impact the privacy interests of 233 million Internet users in North America."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118765934437503661.html?mod=todays_us_op...
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