The Federal Trade Commission review had been expected, though government has been subjected to fierce lobbying from both sides of the deal.
The New York Times reported unnamed executives familiar with the investigation saying the FTC review had started last week. It quoted an FTC spokesman confirming the commission’s policy of not commenting on inquiries.
DoubleClick, which specialises in placing and tracking online display advertising on behalf of customers, had been the subject of a bidding war between Google and Microsoft. Google won.
When the US$3.1 billion acquisition plan was announced a month ago, the deal attracted heavy criticism from privacy advocates and civil libertarians.
Microsoft also weighed in, saying the combination of Google and DoubleClick centralised too much power in the online ad market. Microsoft urged US regulators to investigate the deal’s antitrust implications.
Google has lobbied government to allow the DoubleClick deal, arguing the acquisition poses no threat to competition.
Google senior corporate counsel Don Harrison Don Harrison said in a statement this week the combination of the two companies would deliver benefits to consumers by giving them more relevant advertising and greater choice.
“Numerous independent analysts and academics have determined after looking at this acquisition that the online advertising industry is a dynamic and evolving space — as evidenced by a number of recently announced acquisitions — and that rich competition in this industry will bring more relevant ads to consumers and more choices for advertisers and Web site publishers,” Mr Harrison said.
The FTC is known to have already sent Google a detailed list of questions related to the DoubleClick acquisition.
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