EU group says Google-DoubleClick deal will harm privacy
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InfoWorld - European consumer groups warned the European Commission Thursday thatÂ Google's plan to take over the online advertising company DoubleClick, currentlyÂ under investigation, wouldÂ erode consumers' privacyÂ and would push up prices for online goods and services.
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European consumer groups warned the European Commission Thursday that&#160;Google&#39;s plan to take over the online advertising company DoubleClick, currently&#160;under investigation, would&#160;erode consumers&#39; privacy&#160;and would push up prices for online goods and services.
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Google Inc.'s privacy practices are the worst among the Internet's top destinations, according to a watchdog group seeking to intensify the recent focus on how the online search leader handles personal information about its users.
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European lawmakers plan to take the unusual step of pressing antitrust regulators next month to look at privacy concerns raised by Google Inc.'s intended takeover of online ad tracker DoubleClick.
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By Kevin J. O'Brien and Thomas Crampton  In the latest example of a U.S. technology giant potentially being called on the carpet in Europe, Google has been warned that it may be violating European Union privacy laws by storing data on its users for up to two years.
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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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The European Commission said Monday it would take until Nov. 13 to examine Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion bid for online ad tracker DoubleClick to review its proposals meant to eliminate antitrust concerns.
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The U.S. government still needs to block or impose conditions on Google Inc.&#39;s acquisition of online advertising server DoubleClick Inc., despite Google&#39;s call for global privacy standards, three privacy groups said Monday.
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European group asks for an investigation into how Google's DoubleClick acquisition could affect privacy rights.
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European Union regulators will decide before November whether to clear Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion takeover bid for online ad tracker DoubleClick or study the issue further.
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By KELLY OLSEN  SEOUL, South Korea - Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said Wednesday that U.S. regulatory approval of his company's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick will not be hindered by concerns over privacy.
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An official spokesperson for the European Commission, in response to our questions regarding procedures for reviewing the proposed merger between Google and DoubleClick, told BetaNews this morning that under EU law, any two companies anywhere in the world whose projected post-merger annual revenue from European customers would exceed 250 million euros is subject to regulatory approval there.
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Web search leader Google Inc.'s   commitment to consumer privacy came under fire from  Privacy International, a British activist group that has  previously singled out Google for criticism.
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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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Google Inc.&#39;s proposed merger with online advertising server DoubleClick Inc. 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.
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BRUSSELS - European Union regulators will decide before November whether to clear Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion takeover bid for online ad tracker DoubleClick or study the issue further.
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In what is being described as an unusual move, members of the European Parliament are urging trade regulators to expand their review of Google's proposed $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick.