FTC wants more data on Google-DoubleClick deal

By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust authorities will conduct an extended investigation into Google Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Web advertising supplier DoubleClick Inc., Google said on Tuesday.

The Federal Trade Commission has requested additional information about the $3.1 billion deal, Google said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

Such "second requests" typically mean the agency has concluded a deal warrants an in-depth antitrust review.

Microsoft Corp. and other Google rivals, such as AT&T Inc., have urged antitrust officials to closely scrutinize the combination, saying it could give Google too much control over online advertising.

The FTC drew the assignment after recent discussions with the Justice Department, which shares responsibility for merger reviews and other antitrust enforcement with the FTC, according to one source.

Deals combining large competing companies are investigated to determine whether they would hobble competition and lead to higher prices.

Google has dismissed such antitrust concerns and expressed optimism the deal will be approved.

In its SEC filing, Google said it was "working closely with DoubleClick and will cooperate fully with the FTC's request for additional information and documentary materials."

Antitrust lawyer Andrew Klevorn said Microsoft and AT&T had raised "sufficient concern to merit a second request."

"They've got to make sure that this remains a vibrant sector of the economy," Klevorn, a partner with the firm Eimer Stahl Klevorn & Solberg LLP, said of the FTC.

The purchase would get Google further into the market for Web display ads, which includes richer graphic and online banner ads for corporate brands.

DoubleClick offers a digital marketplace that connects ad agencies, marketers and Web site publishers. It has more than 1,500 corporate clients.

Klevorn said the investigation ultimately will hinge on whether competition concerns are shared by the companies' customers: advertisers and ad agencies.

"They're just being good cops, checking things out before they let it go forward -- if they let it go forward," Klevorn said.

Klevorn said the investigation also could delve into concerns about privacy that have been raised by critics of the deal. Microsoft has said the deal would provide Google with a huge amount of data about consumer behavior on the Internet.