Google backs out of Yahoo deal
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Steve Chiotakis: You might have heard that Google’s ad partnership with rival Yahoo is off for now. The search king isn’t up for a hassle with regulators over anti-trust issues. You know who’s happy to see the deal on ice? Consumer advocates. Here’s Janet Babin from North Carolina Public Radio.
Janet Babin: The deal would have let Google sell search ads on Yahoo’s Web site. Together, the Internet giants would have controlled more than 80 percent of the search market. Federal regulators said they would file suit to block the alliance over fears that less competition would make online advertising more expensive.
But consumer advocates didn’t like the deal for another reason — they say industry consolidation gives companies like Google a monopoly over our personal data.
Jeff Chester is with the Center for Digital Democracy:
Jeff Chester: There’s significant privacy risks, because there are fewer and fewer companies controlling greater and greater amounts of information about ourselves that are dominating this landscape.
Advocates want the Obama administration to increase consumer safeguards that would protect online privacy. They also want regulators to strengthen antitrust laws for online companies.
In Durham North Carolina, I’m Janet Babin for Marketplace.
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