Microsoft/Yahoo!, Google/DoubleClick et al: The Emerging “New Media†Media Monopoly
Consolidation of the Online Advertising Business Illustrates Failure of FTC and Antitrust Process
Privacy Threats Online to Consumers Will Grow: Federal Safeguards on Data Collection Urgently Required
Consequences to Democratic Discourse Must be Examined
Today’s proposed acquisition by Microsoft of Yahoo!, if consummated, will create a powerful interactive Internet interactive duopoly in online media. Google and Microsoft will have inordinate power to shape the online communications marketplace, including journalism, entertainment and advertising. The once most potentially democratic of all mediums—the Net—is being shaped by the same powerful forces that consolidated the “older†media of broadcasting and newspapers. There are consequences to democratic societies everywhere, as two digital gatekeepers are likely to control how the Internet and other interactive media evolve. In an era when individuals are increasingly conducting their personal, social and political lives online, the corporations that control the digital experience will have a far-reaching influence over every aspect of society.
The failure of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Congress to adequately address the emerging consolidation in the online advertising business helped lead to this proposed transaction. Two years ago [November 2006], the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and US Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) petitioned the FTC to open up an antitrust investigation into the growing consolidation of the online ad business. We and other groups asked the FTC to impose competition safeguards in the Google/DoubleClick deal. The FTC failed to do both and has now placed consumers and competitors at risk. Beyond competition safeguards, the proposed deal underscores the need for both the FTC and the Congress to enact policies that will protect consumer data online. They are already at risk, as we reminded the FTC in an amended complaint and letter last November. In an online era dominated by digital behemoths, consumers will be more vulnerable to having their personal information become the property of the GoogleClick’s and Microhoo’s!
