Review Google, DoubleClick deal: CIPPIC
p2pnet news | Advertising:- The Competition Commissioner should urgently review the proposed merger between Google and DoubleClick, says CIPPIC (Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic).
The merger will, “prevent or substantially lessen competition in the online targeted advertising market by combining Google’s keyword search dominance with DoubleClick’s leadership in display advertisement serving and behavioural targeting advertisement products,” states CIPPIC, Canada’s only technology law clinic.
In a letter to the Competition Commissioner, “A Google-DoubleClick merger will greatly affect electronic commerce,” states CIPPIC director Philippa Lawson, going on:
“Through the merger, Google-DoubleClick will gain unprecedented market power, with which they can manipulate online advertising prices. Advertisers and web publishers will have no real choice but to choose Google’s advertisement platforms in order to remain visible in the e-commerce market.”
The merger will have the following anti-competitive effects in the Canadian market, says CIPPIC:
- Google-DoubleClick will dominate online ad-serving to websites and the monetization model for accessing internet content;
- Google-DoubleClick will be able to manipulate the targeted online advertising market to raise advertising prices;
- The merger creates barriers to market entry and removes vigorous and effective competition by Yahoo! and Microsoft;
- Buyers will not be able to counter Google-DoubleClick’s market power as web publishers and advertisers will have to choose Google in order to be visible in the e-commerce market; and
- Consumers will have no real ability to choose services other than those served by Google, as users will not be able to avoid websites serving Google-DoubleClick ads.
Click here to read the letter.
American and European public interest groups have already launched similar requests for review on competition grounds, CIPPIC points out.
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