Tension Builds As Watchdogs Await Google Ruling
The FTC's antitrust review of Google's plan to buy online advertiser DoubleClick could conclude this week, the Center for Digital Democracy's Jeff Chester told us Tuesday afternoon. His group and the Electronic Privacy Information Center have repeatedly urged commissioners to take privacy concerns into consideration as they deliberate.
Chester, who also unsuccessfully asked Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras to recuse herself from the review of the $3.1 billion deal because of her ties to the law firm handling the case in Europe, said a decision "is imminent." [See related Technology Daily story here].
"They need to act responsibly here but I feel that the commission is trying to duck the issue," he said. CDD and EPIC have claimed that if Google and DoubleClick pool their Web resources, the company would be able to construct intimate portraits of its users' behavior.
Meanwhile, the European consumer group known as BEUC wrote to regulators there following up on concerns expressed in June. The Tuesday letter raised "additional risks to consumer welfare ... in particular with respect to the price, degree of innovation, quality, and selection of online products and services" available to consumers post-merger.
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