Brussels, 11/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 11 March 2008, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the online advertising technology company DoubleClick by Google, (both of the US). The Commission's investigation (EUROPE 9543), concluded that there were no negative risks to in ad serving or in intermediation in online advertising markets.
DoubleClick mainly sells ad serving, management and reporting technology worldwide to website publishers. According to the Commission's investigation, even if it has managed to develop its activities in the advertising sector, DoubleClick will only be a small player on this market and Google will therefore not benefit from any significant competitive advantages on the market it is entering. The Commission also concluded that the new entity would not be able to force its customers to by advertising services and connected technology from it. The number of competitors on these markets and the way in which they are organised means that any unfair competitive strategy would not be very profitable. The Commission press release points out that the new entity will be obliged to respect private data protection obligations. European legislation on respect for private electronic information is begin examined by the European Parliament, Commission and some member states. (C.D.)