Trade Analyst on Google/Yahoo!: Google becomes “monopolistic gatekeeper”

From Diane Mermigas June 18, 2008 column in Online Media Daily [excerpt]:

excerpt: The deal puts more than 90% of the search ad market in Google’s hands, and raises the likely prospect that Google and Yahoo will work together on display ads. Executives from both companies have suggested as much, calling the partnership “good for competition;” when they should have said that it is “good for the competition.” The deal is a Trojan horse that makes Google the monopolistic gatekeeper, sucking the democracy and free capitalistic process out of advertising and e-commerce. The nonexclusive clause in the deal seems meaningless…Deutsche Bank, CitiGroup and Merrill Lynch are among investment banks reducing their estimates on Yahoo in anticipation of its advertisers shifting their business to Google. “This effectively signals the end of Yahoo’s competitive entry in the paid search business and signals to advertisers /agency customers to simply work with Google to purchase ad impressions from Yahoo longer term,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Jeetil Patel.

Author: jeff

Jeff Chester is executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. A former journalist and filmmaker, Jeff's book on U.S. electronic media politics, entitled "Digital Destiny: New Media and the Future of Democracy" was published by The New Press in January 2007. He is now working on a new book about interactive advertising and the public interest.

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