Google and Yahoo! delay ad deal
Google has postponed its online ad deal with Yahoo! which was due to commence in the US this month. The search giant says the delay will allow more time for US and European Union anti-trust regulators to consider the ramifications of the tie-up.
Under the deal, Google technology will place targeted ads next to results on Yahoo! search pages on the US homepage.
In a statement, Google says: “When we announced our advertising agreement with Yahoo! in June we agreed to delay its implementation until October to give regulators time to look at the details.
“As we are still in conversation with the Department of Justice we have agreed to a brief delay in implementing the agreement while those discussions continue.”
Google and Yahoo! stress it will not affect Yahoo UK users. However, the European Union is conducting an enquiry into privacy issues surrounding the deal.
The proposed alliance has been the subject of political scrutiny, since the deal was announced in February. Competitors have also voiced their objections over it.
Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel Brad Smith, says: “The tie-up will crimp competition and give Google ‘unprecedented’ control of the gateway to the internet.”
“If search is the gateway to the internet, and most believe that it is, this deal will put Google in a position to own that gateway and the information that flows through it,” he adds.
