Yahoo! and Microsoft campaign against DoubleClick Google deal

24th September 2007

Yahoo! and Microsoft have successfully lobbied for Google's attempted acquisition of an online advertising tracker to be reviewed by the EU.

A report in the Times today says that Microsoft "is said to be investing heavily in a lobbying campaign against the DoubleClick deal".

DoubleClick - based in New York - places and tracks online advertising, according to Associated Press.

The news agency says that Google has turned search advertising "into an extremely lucrative business".

Search advertising works by placing advertisements on websites that the target market are likely to visit.

However, Yahoo! and Microsoft have both raised concerns that Google's £1.5 billion bid, if successful, will give it a monopoly of the market.

Consumer groups are also said to have expressed concern that the search engine will be able to track browsing habits too closely.