Mergers: European Commission Clears Proposed Acquisition Of DoubleClick By Google

Business Wire, March 11, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of the online advertising technology company DoubleClick by Google. The Commission's in-depth investigation, opened in November 2007, concluded that the transaction would be unlikely to have harmful effects on consumers, either in ad serving or in intermediation in online advertising markets. The Commission has therefore concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition within the European Economic Area or a significant part of it.

The Commission also analyzed the potential effects of non-horizontal relationships between Google and DoubleClick following concerns raised by third parties in the course of the market investigation.

The Commission found that the merged entity would not have the ability to engage in strategies aimed at marginalizing Google's competitors, mainly because of the presence of credible ad serving alternatives to which customers (publishers/advertisers/ad networks) can switch, in particular vertically integrated companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL. The market investigation also found that the merged entity would not have the incentive to close off access for competitors in the ad serving market, mainly because such strategies would be unlikely to be profitable.

The Commission's decision to clear the proposed merger is based exclusively on its appraisal under the EU Merger Regulation. It is without prejudice to the merged entity's obligations under EU legislation in relation to the protection of individuals and the protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data and the Member States' implementing legislation.

More information on the case will be available at: ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/mergers/cases/index/m94.html#m_4731