The FTC ruled in Google's favor on Dec. 20, but the Web search giant still needs the approval of the EU's antitrust commissionScore one for Google. The Federal Trade Commission ruled Dec. 20 that it would not block Google's (GOOG) proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of leading online ad-serving and tracking firm DoubleClick. The 4-1 decision in Google's favor marked a major win for the Web search Goliath, which is battling to expand its considerable share of the $30 billion online advertising market beyond tiny text ads related to Web queries.
But Google can't claim victory yet. The European Union's antitrust commission still needs to sign off on the merger before Google can begin incorporating DoubleClick into its business. That may not happen without Google agreeing to certain conditions, if at all. Already, the EU has raised concerns about its impact on consumer privacy. "This is round one of a two-round battle," says Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), a nonprofit public interest group that opposed the merger. "The EU can kill the deal, there is no question about it."
The FTC said in its decision that it could only consider privacy concerns as they relate to marketplace competition. But it did issue a separate statement with some recommendations concerning online customer data collection and privacy.
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