FTC approves Google-DoubleClick deal

[Larwee]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved the 3.1 billion dollar Google purchase of DoubleClick.

Some competitors didn't want the deal to be approved. Here is a portion of the FTC statement that addresses that issue:

The markets within the online advertising space continue to quickly evolve, and predicting their future course is not a simple task...Because the evidence did not support the theories of potential competitive harm, there was no basis on which to seek to impose conditions on this merger.

Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman and CEO had these comments:

The FTC's strong support sends a clear message: this acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers. We hope that the European Commission will soon reach the same conclusion, and we are confident that this deal will deliver more relevant ads for consumers, more choices for advertisers, and more opportunities for website publishers.

Google said it cannot formally close its DoubleClick acquisition until it gets clearance from European regulators. European Union regulators said they would rule on the transaction by April 2, 2008. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approved the deal in October.

There are a lot more details. Here are some links with additional information:

FTC allows Google-DoubleClick merger to proceed | CNET News.com

U.S. approves Google purchase of DoubleClick - International Herald Tribune

FTC approves Google/DoubleClick deal - Network World

AFP: US clears Google buyout of online ad giant DoubleClick

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks for all the great coverage on this Larry.

I'm pretty excited. I've been watching with interest as Performics was revived from the almost dead file and has just grown and attracted so many great new merchants over the past few months. After this deal is sealed, if they play their cards right I think they can become the #1 affiliate network.