They proceeded to note the "super-dominant" position in search Google holds in several EU member countries. BEUC also cited AdWords and DoubleClick as the dominant search and non-search advertising choices on the Internet.
"Following the merger, there will be no real alternative to the combined entity for advertisers and web publishers," BEUC said.
Google has routinely denied that claim, and recently pointed to A combined Google/DoubleClick will be a data collection colossus that combines information about consumers that Google collects through its search engine with the tracking data that DoubleClick collects about users as they surf the web. Post-merger, Google will have the ability and incentive to engage in significantly more intrusive user tracking and profiling than exists today. This is because more intrusive tracking and profiling would enable Google to improve behavioural ad targeting and to attract web publishers that today prefer to sell their advertising space via their direct sales forces.
However, because the merged entity will not be subject to any competitive discipline, the competitive constraints on its tracking and profiling practices will be fundamentally weakened, and quite likely, ultimately eliminated.
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!