Yahoo!, Google delay ad-sharing deal

While DoJ deliberates

By John Oates • Get more from this author

Posted in Financial News, 21st October 2008 11:22 GMT

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Yahoo! and Google have agreed to delay the start of their ad-sharing deal, due to start 22 October, while it's being investigated by the Department of Justice.

The DoJ was meant to have decided on the legality of the deal by Wednesday, so Google and Yahoo! had agreed not to start the ad-sharing scheme until prosecutors had made their minds up.

The issue is turning into a lobbying feast, with various bizarre groups expressing their concerns. There have been complaints from the American Corn Growers Association, the National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association and even the League of Rural Voters.

The DoJ and Google execs have discussed capping how many Google adverts Yahoo! could serve and even the possibiliy of some kind of reporting system which would allow lawyers to keep an eye on how much advertisers are being charged.

The proposed deal is also being investigated by European regulators. ®

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