NEW YORK - By a 4-1 vote Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission approved Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of ad-serving giant DoubleClick, nearly eight months after the companies initially agreed to the deal.
The commission decided that Google and DoubleClick "are not direct competitors in any relevant antitrust market."
"Although interested parties have raised
concerns about the proposed acquisition's impact on consumer privacy, the
commission observed that such issues are not unique to Google and DoubleClick,
and extend to the entire online-advertising marketplace," the FTC stated.
Commissioner Pamela Jones
Harbour said she cast the
lone vote against approving the deal and issued a separate dissenting statement
"because I make alternate predictions about where this market is heading and
the transformative role the combined Google-DoubleClick will play if the proposed
acquisition is consummated."
European antitrust authorities are expected to rule on the deal by April.
