FTC investigates Google-DoubleClick merger

One of the biggest disputes in the world IT industry exploded a few weeks ago after Google and Microsoft both set a goal to buy online advertising agency DoubleClick.

Google became the winner of the dispute after agreeing to slash almost $ 3.1 billion to pay DoubleClick.

But other rivals who participated in the race with Google, such as Microsoft, AT&T and Yahoo, seem to have yet to accept the loss. These firms are "encouraging" managers to scrutinize the deal between Google and DoubleClick.

And this week the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decided to enter by launching an antitrust investigation process targeting Google and the acquisition of DoubleClick.

Analysts said that it was also the turn of the US Justice Department to go on with its own investigation.

The reason why companies have to speak out to undermine the link between Google and DoubleClick is because they are aware of the power when these two companies merge together as well as the extremely attractive business opportunities it brings.

DoubleClick does business by tracking the websites most frequently visited by customers. Meanwhile, Google collected web search history data and website numbers. Combining will allow 2 carriers to track Internet users every time they go online. This causes many concerns about ensuring user privacy.

The Federal Trade Commission is often unaware of privacy issues, but this time it was impossible to ignore the "calls" from Microsoft and other companies.

Hoang Dung