400 Advertisers Tell U.S. Justice Dept They Feel Bad About Google-Yahoo Play
Posted by Paul Glazowski on September 7th, 2008 - 427 views
Lots and lots of advertising companies are taking the opportunity given by the recent Google-Yahoo search advertising trial and the subsequent autumn revelation made by the Google CEO last month to let the U.S. Department of Justice know they’re not so comfortable with the recent dealings between the two largest search giants on the Web. The ANA, or the Association of National Advertisers, a group that collectively manages north of $100 billion in business, decided to issue a letter today to the assistant attorney general of the antitrust arm of the DOJ.
According to Dawn Kawamoto of CNET News, the ANA, which “includes a range of Fortune 500 companies such as the Kellogg Co. and The Proctor & Gamble Co. to Johnson & Johnson and The Walt Disney Co.,” the delivery was preceded by “a comprehensive and independent analysis of its members” as well as “in-person discussions with (Google and Yahoo).”
As has been mentioned by many a news and analysis source, Google last week celebrated it’s 10th year in operation, and in light of the milestone its VP of search products and user experience, Marissa Miller, spoke with LA Times about the company’s presence in advertising following its DoubleClick acquisition in 2007 (made official in March 2008). If trends continue, the company’s numbers are only growing larger. In fact, the ANA foresees that “a Google-Yahoo partnership will control 90 percent of search advertising inventory” which will in turn “likely diminish competition, increase concentration of market power, limit choices currently available and potentially raise prices to advertisers for high quality, affordable search and advertising.”
All things considered, this news only adds further to the fairly compressed period of trouble for the last several months have been for Google. Yahoo as well. Google is now being hit with increased privacy concerns from European reaches, the US Government, consumer advocates, city and town residents, and various other parties big and small. Yahoo, meanwhile, is coming off an attempt by Microsoft to purchase its business, an effort which Redmond abandoned, only to see activist investor Carl Icahn net three Yahoo Board seats for himself and two other individuals, a story which seems far from complete. Where will this go? Perhaps not the way Google and Yahoo originally intended for. The extra level of attention given by the ANA that regulators parsing the deal between both companies cannot weight kindly. Keep in mind, it is only weeks until the “grace period” given to inspectors by Google and Yahoo is through.
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