Microsoft Launches Campaign Against Google-DoubleClick
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The software giant tries to drum up industry support to scrutinize and potentially block the proposed merger.
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(InfoWorld) - Google's proposed merger with online advertising server DoubleClick would create a giant that would control a huge portion of online advertising and hurt the Internet, opponents of the deal told U.S. lawmakers Thursday. The merger, proposed in April, would create "extreme market concentration," said Scott Cleland, chairman of Netcompetition.org, an advocacy group representing large broadband providers. The merger would leave online advertisers with "no real competitive choice," he told the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith argued that the marriage of Google and DoubleClick will allow Google to control 70 percent of the search-based advertising market and 80 percent of the online display advertising market. Smith, whose company is still under court supervision for its ownÂ 2002 antitrust settlement with the U.S. government, suggested regulators should reject the Google-DoubleClick merge on antitrust grounds. "What are the economic consequences of allowing the largest company in online advertising to acquire its most significant competitor?" Smith said. "If Google and DoubleClick are allowed to merge, Google will become the overwhelmingly dominant pipeline for all forms of online advertising." But David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, argued that DoubleClick has a different business model than Google. "We are confident that our purchase of DoubleClick does not raise antitrust issues because of one simple fact: Google and DoubleClick do not compete with each other," he said. "DoubleClick does not buy ads, sell ads, or buy or sell advertising space. We sell ads, DoubleClick delivers ads." Microsoft's estimates of Google and DoubleClick controlling 80 percent of the display ad market is a "made-up number," Drummond added. A little more than a month afterÂ Google announced plans to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, Microsoft announced that it would saidÂ acquire aQuantive, a digital marketing services agency, for $6 billion.Â YahooÂ andÂ AOLÂ have recently announced their own acquisitions in the online advertising space. Cleland argued that the Google-DoubleClick deal represents the biggest threat to competition in online advertising. He called the U.S. government's antitrust review "a watershed moment for Internet competition." Google's own "uniquely monopolistic" mission statement says it wants to "organize the world's information," Cleland added. "No other entity currently has such a naked ambition to control or effectively corner the market for any of the world's commodities, let alone all the world's information," he said. In addition to the antitrust issues raised at the hearing, Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, voiced concerns that the merger will have a huge effect on consumer privacy. The combined company would control a huge database of customer data, Rotenberg said. Regulators in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe "appear to be in agreement that there is no merger that poses a more significant threat to online privacy than Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick," Rotenberg said. "This is going to be a real problem for the Internet if it's allowed to go forward." Google believes "deeply in protecting online users' privacy," Drummond answered. Google has announced plans to make IP addresses and cookies anonymous, and the company is working on several other privacy initiatives, he said. Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, asked Google's Drummond how the company can complain about the lack of broadband providers when its merger could create a dominant Internet advertising provider. Companies wishing to advertise online have "many, many choices," Drummond said, while most consumers have the choice of one or two broadband providers. But Hatch also suggested to Microsoft's Smith that Google could lose advertising market share if a better search engine comes along. "Where is the antitrust problem?" he said. "Why not just build a better product?" The online advertising market is consolidating rapidly, Smith said. Companies wishing to advertise online will soon be left with one to three choices, he predicted.
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A top executive for Web marketing company DoubleClick (DCLK.O) on Tuesday said Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) MSN Web portal will use its rich media ads online, paving the way for wider use of a key DoubleClick  product.
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REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft Corp., stepping up its efforts to compete with rival Google Inc., will offer consumers a preview of its technology for searching the Internet, beginning Thursday.
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Two months after Google opened up a whole new market with its desktop search tool, Microsoft has joined the party with the release of its own beta test version.
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Google undeservedly recieves credit for many clicks on the online ads it delivers via its search engine, but Microsoft wants to put a stop to that.
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Microsoft Corp.  unveiled the full-release version of its search engine on Monday, turning up the heat on Web search leader Google Inc.
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While senior Microsoft executives pit the company against Google in a looming Internet search war, the Redmond, Washington-based company has begun offering a Google search tool for download from the Microsoft.
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Microsoft Corp. unveiled a preliminary  version of its Web search engine late on Wednesday, in its  first attack on Google Inc. leading position in the market.
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Google  said it would file on  Friday with the European Commission for permission to acquire  rival DoubleClick for $3.1 billion.
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Microsoft is launching a new look for some of itâs Live Search results in an attempt to win more of the search business from Google.
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Microsoft on Thursday urged a US Senate panel to oppose Google&#39;s purchase of online ad targeting colossus DoubleClick, arguing that the 3.1 billion dollar deal threatens competition and privacy.
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An offensive against one of the last pockets of resistance to the proliferation of the personal computer into every corner of our lives will be launched this week by two high-tech giants, Microsoft and Intel.
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The Microsoft Corporation has prepared a blistering attack on rival Google, arguing that the Web search leader takes a cavalier approach to copyright protection.
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Google Inc. has gotten undeservedly all the credit for many clicks on the online ads it delivers via its search engine, but Microsoft Corp. wants to put a stop to that.
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Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O plans to   officially launch on Tuesday its new Windows Live Search   engine, a pillar in its strategy to topple market leader Google   GOOG.O and wrestle away billions of dollars worth of online   advertising.
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Pledges 'constructive' dialogue with Europe Google is reported to be facing a fresh regulatory investigation: this time in the US, and into its acquisition of ad serving firm DoubleClick.â¦