Google ad deal under scrutiny
From Times Wire Services
The Justice Department has opened a formal antitrust investigation into a deal struck last month that would allow Internet titan Google Inc. to provide some search advertising for Yahoo Inc., according to a report by the Washington Post that cited people familiar with the inquiry.
Investigators are planning to demand documents not only from Google and Yahoo but also from other large companies in the Internet and media industries, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Google and Yahoo executives have said since announcing the deal that they would delay implementing it for a voluntary Justice Department review. A formal probe signals that the department may have found some cause for concern.
