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FTC Approves Google-DoubleClick Deal

Posted by kdawson on from the one-ad-server-to-rule-them-all dept.

Bogie Lowenstein is one of many readers letting us know that the FTC has approved Google's acquisition of DoubleClick in a 4-to-1 vote. The FTC essentially blew off the privacy concerns about the merger, saying it lacked the legal authority to block the deal on any grounds except antitrust. The EU's review of the deal is still going forward, with a decision due by April 2, 2008; the privacy sensibility there is more sharply focused.

6 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Friction? by kilo_foxtrot84 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Do you suppose this will cause contention between Google and Mozilla? I thought they had a mutually beneficial arrangement going... but what happens when Google owns DoubleClick, when one of Firefox's most popular add-ons--AdBlock--works to help us ignore DoubleClick ads? Will we see any sort of friction?

    1. Re:Friction? by spyrochaete · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't think AdBlock, nor "The AdBlock Crew", are professionally affiliated with Mozilla. Besides, Google's main source of income is advertising and I don't think they've balked at this extension yet. Currently AdBlock blocks all Google ads very thoroughly.

  2. Good news by rinkjustice · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm glad this went through. Maybe DoubleClick's practices and privacy policies will be more transparent now their part of Google. And from a marketing standpoint, I can see the contextual relevancy of advertising online become a whole lot more relevant to the user.

    But mostly because it pisses off Microsoft.

    --
    SEO Copywriter. Just Say ON
  3. Lacked legal authority... by nebaz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not sure about the privacy implications, but I'm glad that a federal agency finally recognizes its own jurisdictional limits, unlike some other agency I can think of who is supposed to be regulating radio broadcast spectrum allocation, not content on said spectrum. Still though, I hope it's not an excuse to pander to big business, like some of what the EPA does when they say that the lack legal authority, even when judges rule that they do not lack such.

    --
    Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
  4. Hosts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I have doubleclick blocked in my hosts file. It makes slashdot load faster, incidentally.

    Though all the "sponsored links" in google search results are broken. I have to hack the url to remove the reference to doubleclick in order to get to the site.

    That is ok with me though...I don't often have much reason to click a sponsored link.

  5. Does google know that doubleclick is evil? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This merger will hurt google. Googles positive reputation can only be dragged down by affiliating itself with double-click.

    I love google, but ill block them at my router before i let doubleclick into by boxes.