Google Was Only 3 Hours from Being Charged with Monopoly

When Google (GOOG) pulled out of its proposed search advertising deal with Yahoo (YHOO) last month, it was chief legal counsel David Drummond who made the announcement. He cited concerns of a “protracted legal battle,” but only now do we learn that the Justice Department was only three hours away from filing an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal. Sandy Litvack, the prosecutor hired by the Justice Department to head up the case, tells Am Law Daily:

We were going to file the complaint at a certain time during the day. We told them we were going to file the complaint at that time of day. Three hours before, they told us they were abandoning the agreement.

. . . It would have ended up also alleging that Google had a monopoly and that [the advertising pact] would have furthered their monopoly.

When it came down to the wire, Google blinked. It was the right move. But Google is on notice that the DOJ considers it a near-monopoly, and will treat it as such if need be. At least until the Obama Administration takes over. Then Google CEO Eric Schmidt can remind them how hard he campaigned for them to win.

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Comments

[LA Tech:]

So the truth has been revealed and the most senior of manangement teams within Google have been lying to shareholders.

The monopoly moniker is bad for business and Google blinked...big time!

Good for the DOJ!

2008 Dec 04 08:31 AM

[NYM Arts:]

Honestly, What will it take to trigger the DOJ to rein in Ebay / PayPal ?
Time is WAY past Due.
NYM Arts

2008 Dec 04 03:13 PM