Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Does Microsoft's purchase invalidate claim against Google

When few weeks ago Google announced that it was buying DoubleClick for u$s3.1 billion the main competitors, specially Microsoft, cried foul and asked to regulators around the globe to check for the legality of such acquisition (saying that it was not legal and contrary to anti-monopoly laws) but, in addition to contradicting its own position in other matters, recent moves by Microsoft and Yahoo! seem to help Google overcome the regulatory hassle. Microsoft acquired Aquantive, a company that advises agencies and website publishers on putting adverts online, connecting buyers and sellers, paying 85% more per share than the relevant closing price (a deal worth u$s 6 billion), leading to an analyst quoted in the BBC to say that he worried that "Microsoft has become Google-tunnel vision" following what Google does without a proper analysis as to whether it fits into its core business. On the same line Yahoo! purchased the remainder 80% of Right Media Exchange it did not already own for u$s680m, and it seems unlikely that on the face of such trend towards consolidation of the market, in which they are taking part, Google's competitors could ask for or imagine that Google's acquisition to be voided.

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