If Google's planned $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick goes through, the deal will significantly extend Google's prominence in online advertising. So it's probably not surprising that Google rivals are raising antitrust concerns.
Microsoft and Time Warner are among the companies reportedly hoping the federal authorities will scrutinize the Google-DoubleClick deal for potential antitrust violations, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The irony is rich. After all, if anyone should know a thing or two about monopolies, it's Microsoft.
Of course, the prospective deal doesn't just raise questions about market influence. It also makes one wonder how much additional information Google will be able to glean about Web users. The company already maintains detailed records of people's search queries -- which, in itself, gives Google significant insight into users. This summer, the world saw how query data alone could be used to figure out the identity of users when AOL mistakenly released three months' worth of search queries for more than 600,000 users. Within days, The New York Times ran a front-page story showing how it had IDed one AOL user by her search history alone.
Google is now talking about deleting some query-related data after two years -- a move that certain privacy groups are denouncing as insufficient to protect Web users. But the company is vague about this plan, as it is about intentions for using data gleaned from DoubleClick. It's easy to imagine Google compiling detailed user dossiers once it has access to DoubleClick data, gleaned from user clicks on Web pages and ads that have no connection to search.
Google Friday paid lip service to protecting people's privacy, but it's unclear how much information about Web users the company intends to amass. Figuring out the answer to that question is at least as important as focusing on whether the deal will give Google too much influence over online advertising.
And the moral of the story: Money overrules Ideas and concepts. Google has become as much of despicable powerplayer as MS. So i ask, what's the way out of this?
This post is also on IntelBank - http://www.intelbank.com/index.php?topic=53.0
Microsoft and Time Warner are among the companies reportedly hoping the federal authorities will scrutinize the Google-DoubleClick deal for potential antitrust violations, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The irony is rich. After all, if anyone should know a thing or two about monopolies, it's Microsoft.
Of course, the prospective deal doesn't just raise questions about market influence. It also makes one wonder how much additional information Google will be able to glean about Web users. The company already maintains detailed records of people's search queries -- which, in itself, gives Google significant insight into users. This summer, the world saw how query data alone could be used to figure out the identity of users when AOL mistakenly released three months' worth of search queries for more than 600,000 users. Within days, The New York Times ran a front-page story showing how it had IDed one AOL user by her search history alone.
Google is now talking about deleting some query-related data after two years -- a move that certain privacy groups are denouncing as insufficient to protect Web users. But the company is vague about this plan, as it is about intentions for using data gleaned from DoubleClick. It's easy to imagine Google compiling detailed user dossiers once it has access to DoubleClick data, gleaned from user clicks on Web pages and ads that have no connection to search.
Google Friday paid lip service to protecting people's privacy, but it's unclear how much information about Web users the company intends to amass. Figuring out the answer to that question is at least as important as focusing on whether the deal will give Google too much influence over online advertising.
And the moral of the story: Money overrules Ideas and concepts. Google has become as much of despicable powerplayer as MS. So i ask, what's the way out of this?
This post is also on IntelBank - http://www.intelbank.com/index.php?topic=53.0
