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US Hires Top Lawyer to Mull Google-Yahoo Antitrust Case

Step in possible antitrust case against Internet giants

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 9, 2008 9:39 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The Justice Department has hired a top lawyer to review a possible antitrust case against the Google-Yahoo advertising deal, which would give the companies control of 80% of web search ads, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sanford Litvack, a former Disney vice-chairman, was Jimmy Carter’s antitrust chief. While officials have been deposing witnesses and collecting documents for weeks, it’s not yet certain they'll go to court.

It's also not clear, the Journal reports, whether the case would target the Google-Yahoo deal alone or broader aspects of Google's dominance in the online-advertising business. Given that dominance, a case against the company could be a landmark in regulating Internet competition. The web giant says the deal is pro-competition and that it would be “premature” to judge it before it takes effect, but advertisers and Microsoft have expressed concerns about its fairness.

Projected images of Google and Yahoo are shown on the floor of Google's New York office on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008.
Projected images of Google and Yahoo are shown on the floor of Google's New York office on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Google CEO Eric Schmidt at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 25, 2008.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 25, 2008.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler, file)
A Google sign inside Google headquarters is seen in Mountain View, Calif., in this May 30, 2007 file photo.
A Google sign inside Google headquarters is seen in Mountain View, Calif., in this May 30, 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
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No decision from Justice Dept. on whether to press case
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Yahoo • Google • Department of Justice • antitrust • lawyer • search advertising • Internet advertising

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