Google took a step closer to its acquisition of online advertising server DoubleClick on Thursday, when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved the sale. One major hurdle still remaining is approval by the European Commission.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that the 4-1 vote by the FTC, following an eight-month investigation, sends a message that the acquisition “poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers.”
In April, Google had announced its agreement to buy DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in cash. Some competing companies, such as Microsoft and AT&T, as well as a variety of consumer advocates and lawmakers, had argued that the purchase could give the software giant an unfair advantage.
Complementary, Not Competing
The acquisition already has been approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and has been recommended for approval by one of three Brazilian regulatory agencies, but Google will not close the deal without the European Commission’s approval, which has said that it will complete its review by April.
Google made the case that it and DoubleClick are complementary, not competing, businesses. “Google’s current business primarily involves the selling of text-based ads,” the company said in a statement, “while DoubleClick’s core business is delivering and reporting on display ads.” It noted that DoubleClick does not actually buy or sell ads or ad space, but provides the technology so that advertisers and publishers can deliver and track ads.
It also pointed out that the FTC’s opinion noted the “robust competition” in online advertising, with a variety of recent acquisitions. These include Yahoo buying Right Media, AOL acquiring ADTECH AG, WPP Group snapping up 24/7 Real Media, and Microsoft spending $6 billion to take over aQuantive.
Andrew Frank, an analyst with industry research firm Gartner, noted that Microsoft’s advertising-and-content deal with Viacom, announced Wednesday, also shows the vitality of the online…