EU to continue examining DoubleClick takeover

22nd October 2007

Google's controversial proposal for a $3.1 billion (£1.52 billion) acquisition of the internet ad outfit DoubleClick, will continue to be examined by the European Commission (EC), it has been announced.

The EC has said that it will look the proposal over until November 13th to make sure there are no antitrust violations.

By acquiring DoubleClick, the search engine giant is seeking to get a step ahead in the recent scramble among the major internet companies for a share of the highly-lucrative internet ad market.

Google lawyer Julia Holtz told the Associated Press: "We believe that the deal is good for publishers, advertisers, and users - and we trust that the Commission will reach the same conclusion and clear the transaction.

"Today's advertising market is highly competitive and innovative, and it is evolving very quickly."

Earlier this year, Microsoft bought the internet ad firm aQuantive for $6 billion.