Europe urges Google scrutiny

European lawmakers plan to take the unusual step of pressing antitrust regulators next month to look at privacy concerns raised by Google Inc.’s intended takeover of online ad tracker DoubleClick Inc.

The $3.1-billion deal has spurred rivals and consumer advocates to complain about the control they say it would give Google, the world’s most popular search engine, over Internet advertising and personal information.

Both the European Commission and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission are scrutinizing the sale, with the U.S. looking mainly at privacy and EU officials focusing on how the deal could affect the Internet ad market. They plan to complete their inquiry by April 2.

Sophie in ‘t Veld, a Dutch Liberal member of the European Parliament, said European politicians would ask their regulators to take privacy into account and would hold a January hearing on it, echoing a U.S. Senate event held in September.

“It’s drawing attention to the fact that our reality is changing,” in ‘t Veld said. “There are lots of companies collecting personal data; we volunteer our personal data to get services.”

The EU assembly’s civil liberties committee will ask EU and U.S. regulators, European data privacy officials, consumer groups and Internet companies -- Google, DoubleClick and others -- to speak at a hearing on either Jan. 21 or Jan. 31.

DoubleClick helps its customers place and track online advertising, including search ads. And Google -- more than its nearest search competitors Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. -- has made an extremely lucrative business of placing ads on Web pages that specific kinds of consumers are likely to use, generating money for less-visited sites.

Some advertisers worry the deal would allow Mountain View, Calif.-based Google to dominate the Internet.

In ‘t Veld said it was essential that Europe and the United States started talking about what happens to the information that people pour into the Internet. She said privacy was becoming a matter of civil liberties as governments fighting terrorism asked companies to hand over travel and financial information.

“The committee is not discussing the merits or details of the merger,” she added. “That’s not our business -- that’s the task of the commission.”

But the Parliament leaves itself open to a charge that it is telling regulators what to do in a case that is still pending.

“That would be dangerous in my view,” said Juan Delgado, a research fellow at think tank Bruegel and a former antitrust official. “There’s been criticism of the Americans for politicizing antitrust institutions.”