After a months-long investigation, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel said he would not intervene in the proposed acquisition.
“A key focus of the ACCC's investigation was whether the combination of Google's network of website publishers and DoubleClick's ad serving capabilities would enable the merged entity to increase the cost of ad serving to website publishers and advertisers,” Mr Samuel said.
“In reaching its decision, the ACCC noted that Google and DoubleClick are not close competitors in the provision of ad serving. In addition, the ACCC also took into account the presence of other competitors in this market that would be likely to constrain the merged entity post-merger,” he said.
“In this context, the ACCC considered that the merger was unlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition in an Australian market.”
The Google-DoubleClick deal is being closely scrutinised by regulators in the US. Competitors like Microsoft and Yahoo say the acquisition will give Google too much power in the advertising market and will have an adverse affect on consumers.
The ACCC is continuing a separate investigation of Google’s AdWords product amid concerns the company contravenes the Trade Practices Act.
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