Business

DoJ Process Could Sour Google On Yahoo Ad Deal

Google and Yahoo may be calling it quits. Their partnership to serve Google ads to Yahoo search pages has been held up by a Justice Department investigation since June. And now it looks like the deal may be falling apart. Assistant Attorney General Tom Barnett met with Yahoo and Google for the second time on […]

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Google and Yahoo may be calling it quits. Their partnership to serve Google ads to Yahoo search pages has been held up by a Justice Department investigation since June. And now it looks like the deal may be falling apart.

Assistant Attorney General Tom Barnett met with Yahoo and Google for the second time on Oct. 17. And the result? A lawyer working on the case told The Deal: "Nothing good came from it."

In recent weeks, Google and Yahoo expressed a willingness to impose restrictions on the deal that would quell antitrust concerns, but the viability of the deal depends on the companies profiting from it. And their concessions may still not be enough to appease monopoly hounds. If DoJ decides to pursue an injunction, Google and Yahoo may not have the stomach to stay in this fight.

From The Deal:

The DOJ could file a complaint seeking a preliminary injunction on the agreement even as the parties assess their options. Antitrust lawyers said the government would have to clear a high hurdle to win a preliminary injunction. But it is even less likely that Google and Yahoo! would want to battle the government in court over such a controversial deal, particularly while the financial market is so precarious, the lawyer said.

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