Google snaps up Doubleclick

ONLINE search outfit Google has completed its take over of Doubleclick after EU regulators gave the sale the thumbs up.

Anti-trust regulators have been investigating the sale since November 2007 after Google announced it was buying Doubleclick for $3.1 billion in April of that year.

The Commission said the transaction "would be unlikely to have harmful effects on consumers." US regulators, which have been a bit softer on anti-trust complaints lately, approved the deal last year.

The main opposer of the deal was Microsoft which failed to beat Google in a bidding war for Doubleclick. With the deal going ahead it makes it more likely that Microsoft will have to make sure its bid to take over Yahoo presses ahead.

Sylvie Barak adds:
The "OK" was given with no strings attached, but the commission did see fit to remind the search engine giant that it was to respect the relevant European Union legislation on the privacy of personal data. This was after The Center for Digital Democracy complained that the deal caused "privacy concerns" and tried to stop it.

A merger between Google and DoubleClick was deemed unlikely to impede competition, due to the fact that the companies are not seen as competitors, according to Eurocrats. The way the EU sees it, Google simply provides online advertising space on its own websites and operates its AdSense service as a go between for publishers and advertisers.

DoubleClick, on the other hand, offers ad serving, management and reporting services to publishers, advertisers and agencies. (Notice the huge difference? No? Not to worry, neither do most people)

The committee had taken four months to come up with its decision, just three weeks short of its April 2^nd deadline to decide the issue.

The EU's decision now clears the last legislative hurdle from Google's path in its ambition to acquire Double Click. It will come as a blow to Google's rivals, and mainly the Vole, which was hoping that the Commission would quash the deal. µ

L'Inq
EU Commission's announcement