FTC Receives Complaint About Google-DoubleClick Merger
Apr 20, 2007
The Associated Press reported that three consumer groups filed a complaint today with the Federal Trade Commission, asking the Commission to investigate Google's proposed purchase of DoubleClick because of concerns about user privacy. The $3.1 billion acquisition, announced last week, would extensively expand Google's ad network (according to the AP article, DoubleClick's "ads reach up to 85 percent of Internet users.").
The three groups filing the complaint -- the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group -- claim that "the proposed acquisition will create unique risks to privacy." In particular, there are concerns about Google gaining the ability to combine its data with DoubleClick's to enhance the company's ability to track what individuals search for, and which sites they visit.
While official comment from Google wasn't yet available, DoubleClick had issued a statement asserting that its data would only be available to clients.
EPIC has posted information about its complaint here and there's a Google press release on the acquisition here.
Tags:
