DOJ contemplates a bigger fight with Google
The Washington-Google wrestling match has taken another turn and this time, it's the DOJ that's flexing its muscle.
Anonymous sources tell CNET that the Department of Justice is contemplating whether to simply challenge the proposed Google-Yahoo ad-sharing deal or swing for the fences by filing broader charges related to the company's dominance in search advertising. To be clear, Google and Yahoo don't see their non-exclusive deal as one that even needs regulatory approval. The companies gave the government three months to review it - as a courtesy - but said last month that, since the government is still dragging its feet, the companies will move forward with the deal.
Armed with complaints from the advertising industry about Google's impact, the DOJ - realizing that the Yahoo deal may be the smaller fish it's trying to fry - might have enough to take on Google, a la Microsoft. Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department had hired Sanford Litvack, a well-known lawyer and former vice chairman of Disney. The newspaper suggested that the hiring of the lawyer means that Google is about to come under antitrust scrutiny.
According to CNET's source, "There is growing concern about what happens if Google becomes the predominant gateway to information, if information passes through a single enterprise, characterized by a series of commercial algorithms that do what they do--and those algorithms are not subjected to outside review." That would come as a surprise to Google. Until now, the company says its conversations with government lawyers have focused strictly on the Yahoo ad deal.
It's tough to say how the larger approach would play out. Ten years ago, the government prosecuted Microsoft for alleged antitrust violations, but ultimately settled the case in return for the company's agreement to make minor behavioral modifications.
For now, it's all DOJ. Congress has said that, with only a short time remaining in this session, it's unlikely to address this issue. Instead, it will take a wait-and-see approach to see what the DOJ decides to do.