The United States Department of Justice opened a formal, anti-monopoly investigation into the deal that unites Google and Yahoo in advertising management online, writes the Washington Post noting that the analysis of the business should start between this week and the beginning of August.
The researchers aim to gather data on the partnership, using as a basis the documentation stipulating the agreement and other information from third parties. Among the entities that may receive powers of attorney in the scope of the investigations are the potential partners of the partnership and the main advertisers.
The difficulty in this case for the authorities will be to treat the case only as a collaboration contract and not a merger. According to the American legislation, a business of this nature does not need the approval of the authorities since it does not foresee the union of the two parties but rather a cooperation in a single business segment.
However, according to sources close to the investigation, the agreement between Google and Yahoo could hinder competitiveness in the advertising market online, as both dominate the segment in question.
When the deal was announced on 12 June, companies said they would give the authorities 100 days to review the deal before putting it into practice. Now, the need to raise a formal investigation indicates that the Justice Department may have found details that raise concerns for the market, the Washington Post points out.
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