Rep. Wants Yahoo-Google Ad Deal Probed

Joe Barton, Top Republican On Commerce Committee, Accuses Yahoo Of Dodging Questions

(AP)  The top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee is joining a chorus of lawmakers urging the Justice Department to scrutinize the planned Internet advertising partnership between Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

Texas Republican Joe Barton also accuses Yahoo of resisting congressional inquiries into the deal. He said that many of the company's answers to his questions "seemed designed to obscure rather than clarify how the Google-Yahoo partnership would work."

In particular, Barton said Yahoo has resisted his efforts to obtain an unredacted copy of a document suggesting that some of its employees are concerned that working with Google would result in an "effective monopoly."

In a statement, Yahoo said it "has cooperated fully with Congressman Barton's staff, and will continue to do so."

The Justice Department is deep into an investigation of the deal, which will allow Google to sell some of the ads displayed alongside search results on Yahoo's Web site. Google and Yahoo have delayed the start of the partnership to allow the department to complete its antitrust review.

Yahoo entered the agreement in June after rebuffing a $47.5 billion takeover by Microsoft Corp. Yahoo and Google say their deal will benefit advertisers and consumers by delivering more targeted, more relevant ads, while giving Yahoo additional revenue it needs to remain viable as an independent company.

But many advertisers warn that the partnership will leave them with fewer options for placing online ads, raise the cost of online advertising and cement Google's control over the market.

In his letter to the Justice Department on Tuesday, Barton said he is "concerned about the adverse effects such a partnership could have on competition and pricing with the online search advertising community."

Barton said he is also concerned about the privacy implications of the deal since Google and Yahoo both "collect a great deal of information relating to an individual's online activity."