U.S. gives Time Warner go-ahead to buy Tacoda

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N) AOL unit has been given the go-ahead to buy Tacoda, an online advertising company, U.S. antitrust authorities said on Monday.

The Federal Trade Commission said in a statement that officials had looked into the proposed merger and had no objections to it.

The merger, announced on July 24, is the latest acquisition by AOL as it seeks to move away from its Internet access business and instead offer consumers free services supported by ads.

Tacoda's technology allows advertisers to target specific audience segments based on the kinds of sites they have visited on the Web.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed by the companies. A person familiar with the situation said in July that AOL was paying $275 million for Tacoda.

Web media and technology companies have created a lively auction for online ad firms, including Google Inc's (GOOG.O) proposed purchase of DoubleClick and Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) planned acquisition of aQuantive Inc AQNT.O.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz)