In a couple of weeks, the heavily-criticized search ad partnership between Google and Yahoo are supposed to materialize. But perhaps not wanting to face further issues, the two search giants decided to wait for the Justice Department to finish their study first.
According to a Yahoo spokesman, the deal was delayed a bit to pursue their ongoing discussion with the Justice Department, awaiting further questions from the regulating bodies relating to the specifics of the search ad deal. Although Yahoo might be affected by the delay, the company has no choice but to wait for the regulators’ decisionto avoid possible scrutiny and perhaps legal sanction later on.
The decision to delay the implementation of the search ad deal which was supposed to be implemented mid-October comes off the heels of a legislator urging the Justice Department not to interfere with the implementation of the deal. A few days ago, US Attorney Michael Mukasey wrote a letter addressed to the DOJ warning that barring the deal from materializing would stiffle Internet market growth and innovation.
Should the Justice Department ruled out against the search ad deal, will Google and Yahoo push through with the deal and defy legal impediments? BoomTown’s Kara Fisher speculates that Yahoo and Google might tweak the specifics of the deal to appease the regulators or totally abandon the deal.
If this happens, the Google guys can just just shake their head and walk away and continue their quest for search ad dominance even without the help of Yahoo. As for Yahoo, it could be the proper time to seek other alternatives.
