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Reading the DoubleClick tea leaves
November 19, 2007
Did Google just dodge a bullet in the Senate as it moves closer to acquiring DoubleClick? It depends on how you look at it.
A joint letter today from the Democratic chairman and the ranking Republican member of the Senate’s Anti-trust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights committee seems to find little fault with the acquisition. Addressed to the Federal Trade Commission, the letter urges the regulators to think long and hard about the implications of the deal - but it concludes that the politicians haven’t reached "any definitive conclusion" themselves on the matter. An open invitation for the FTC to issue the green light?
Not so fast, says Scott Cleland, one of the biggest Washington agitators against the deal. Cleland points us to what he says are signs that Google may not get a free pass. The letter is the first bi-partisan one of its kind this year, he says - so while the largely non-confrontational tone makes it look like there are few concerns, the joint position is itself unusual and significant. Also, according to Cleland, it is significant that the senators mention (more than once) Google’s "dominant market position." You and I may already have taken it as read that Google’s position in its market was pretty dominant, but Cleland claims the senators are giving the FTC a strong nudge to take a closer look at its spreading power.
Despite this, the odds must be on Google clearing the anti-trust hurdle in Washington with room to spare. The biggest risk still looks like it lies in Europe, where regulators are more inclined than their counterparts in Washington to attach conditions to merger approvals.
