Down to the wire on Google-Yahoo

The buzz around Washington is that the Justice Department will rule on whether to approve the Google-Yahoo advertising pact by late next week.

Of course, the government being the government, maybe it'll do something supremely annoying and keep us in the dark beyond next Friday. But the calendar suggests that a decision is nigh. In June, when Google and Yahoo announced their accord, the companies voluntarily delayed implementing its terms for up to three and a half months to let the Justice Department review the deal.

If the antitrust division decides not to oppose the agreement, the big question is whether it will attach conditions. One source involved with the opponents of the partnership said there's not much chance the trustbusters will allow the deal to be implemented without modification. Of course, nobody outside of the Justice Department really knows the answer yet--and they ain't talking. True to form, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

Since the deal's announcement, Microsoft and the advertising community have been making the case against the Yahoo-Google agreement. The Association of National Advertisers, which represents over 400 companies, last month issued a public letter maintaining the arrangement would raise prices and limit choice. Google and Yahoo obviously see things differently. Yahoo president Sue Decker then responded with a blog refutation of the argument put forth by the ANA and other critics:

This agreement gives advertisers a new opportunity to bid for placement on an additional network that includes Yahoo inventory. They will bid for what they think this opportunity is worth at prices that produce positive ROI. That's how pricing works today in this industry and this agreement won't change that.

So for now, we're stuck in a he-said, she-said limbo, where the spinmeisters on both sides are slinging as much hash as possible. Despite their conflicting predictions of reality, the truth is that nobody will know whether this deal is pro- or anti-competitive until long after it goes into effect--assuming that Uncle Sam's minions give it the green light.

To be continued.

[eltoro2827]

down with yahoo as well....stopped using ad infested google 2 years ago.

no thanks, the internet is already plagued w/ "ads by google" all over the place.

[jharrisofkansas]

This should not happen....Yahoo has recently announced new policies for being on their shopping pages that will pretty much knock those of us with small budgets that are new start up sites out of the picture.Yahoo shopping powers hundreds if not thousands of shopping sites so there are not many ways to get around this....If Google and Yahoo combine forces in any way you can kiss new e commerce retail starts up good bye..Unless they are funded my well established companies with lots of cash of course.
Yes I have filed a complaint with the FTC and written my US Rep

[lloydg]

The e-mail from CNET, COOP's Corner, contained the following language, "Assuming the government is still solvent, of course". Given the serious state of our economy I find nothing funny, cute or witty about suggesting the agreement rests upon the solvency of the U.S. Government. To those of us who may be close to retirment and have worked hard, saved hard and have been looking forward to perhaps a light at the end of the tunnel, that statement would turn your stomach. Pass the valium, but this is no joking matter.

[pyecheri]

Does this have something to do with not being able to access Yahoo for the last two days? I can't get into my mail from either I.E. or Firefox and have cleaned both cache and cookies (also temporary internet files just in case), but still cannot access any Yahoo sites except, oddly, Freecycle.

Not having trouble with other sites.