Privacy groups say Google-DoubleClick merger will hurt consumers
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Google's pending $3.1 billion acquisition of online ad-serving vendor DoubleClick will hurt consumers, according to two privacy groups opposed to the wholesale approval of the deal.
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Blog: The move comes in response to privacy gripes from advocacy groups about the practices companies like Microsoft use to target ads to consumers.
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SAN FRANCISCO -- 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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Online rights groups continue to press the FTC to require privacy protections as conditions of Google's acquisition of DoubleClick.
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The Federal Trade Commission has asked Google for more details about its proposed $3.1 billion purchase of online advertising company DoubleClick as part of an investigation into whether the deal raises antitrust concerns, a Google executive said yesterday.
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InfoWorld - Google&#39;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.
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US regulators Thursday cleared a plan by Google to buy online advertising giant DoubleClick, a tie-up that has sparked concerns about privacy risks and still faces a challenge in the European Union.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigatingÂ Google's proposed $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick, according to news reports Tuesday. The investigation began at the end of last week as a result of concerns over privacy issues and the potential for anti-competitive practices, the New York Times reported, quoting anonymous sources. The two companies announced the all-cash agreement last month, with both Google and Microsoft pursuing the online advertising company, as the competition between the two for a greater share of the online ad market increases. Privacy groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD),Â filed a complaint with the FTCÂ on April 20, asking that the government agency block the merger unless Google will ensure users' privacy, including deleting information that could identify an individual user once that user ends his or her session with a Google site. Antitrust issues are likely to be of greater concern than privacy ones, with regulators more concerned about the merger's effect on other online ad players and their ability to compete against the new combined entity, the report said. Â
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A story run over the UK wires of Reuters this morning quotes a European Commission spokesperson as confirming that everyday customers of Google have been sent EC questionnaires asking their opinion about the forthcoming merger between Google and display advertising provider DoubleClick.
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Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith says Google-DoubleClick merger "will be bad for publishers, bad for advertisers, and most importantly, bad for consumers."
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By Michael Liedtke Associated Press  SAN FRANCISCO -- 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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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 is finding itself increasingly having to explain its planned acquisition of DoubleClick, and is now being asked to testify in September as part of a broader Congressional inquiry into advertising industry consolidation.
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Perhaps this morning's FTC blessing of Google's intended merger with DoubleClick was no surprise, but a read of the final decision reveals an astonishing reason: The Commission claims it wouldn't really have the authority to stop it.
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(InfoWorld) - A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee has opened an investigation into Google'sÂ proposed $3.1 billion acquisitionÂ of online advertising seller DoubleClick. The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will look into the "far-reaching privacy and competition issues raised by the proposed acquisition," Representative Bobby Rush, the subcommittee chairman, said in a statement. Rush informed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission of the investigation in a letter sent Tuesday. In May, the FTC opened its own investigation into the proposed acquisition. The subcommittee will seek to host a hearing on the acquisition later this year, Rush said in the letter. Consumer groups haveÂ raised concernsÂ that the combined company would be a threat to privacy. In April, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research GroupÂ asked the FTC to blockÂ the merger unless it obtains guarantees from Google and DoubleClick that they will protect Internet users' privacy. The groups want Google to destroy all cookies and other persistent identifiers resulting from Internet searches that are or could be personally identifiable once a user terminates a session with Google. Other groups have raised concerns about the acquisition's effect on competition in the online advertising market. Rush, an Illinois Democrat, shares those concerns, he wrote to the FTC. "The subcommittee takes very seriously the protection of consumer privacy," he added. Google said in a statement issued Thursday that it was confident the FTC will conclude the acquisition "poses no risk to competition." The Senate Judiciary Committee is also planning hearings on the online advertising space, including recent acquisitions by MicrosoftÂ and Yahoo, according to a source familiar with the hearing plans. Â
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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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InfoWorld - Google&#160;on Tuesday confirmed that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating its&#160;proposed $3.1 billion purchase&#160;of online advertising seller DoubleClick.