Sen. Chairman Kohl's Letter to DOJ on Google-Yahoo

Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Kohl sent a letter to the DOJ on the Google-Yahoo ad agreement stating "we conclude that important competition issues are raised by this transaction."

"These issues include: 

• Whether the agreement will lead to higher advertising prices;
• whether search and display are interchangeable and substitutable; and 
• Whether this transaction will strengthen Yahoo as a competitor or perpetuate its decline and even exit from this market; and
• whether there are significant barriers to entry impeding new competitors in this market."   

The letter ends with the thought that they "...would encourage the Department to intervene to protect competition..." if this deal now or in the future were to "...cross the line into an unacceptable, anti-competitive collaboration among competitors..."

It is important to note: Ranking Republican Member Orin Hatch was not a signatory of this letter; he was a signatory of the Subcommittee's letter to the DOJ on the Google-DoubleClick merger. 

Bottom line: The timing of this letter suggests that the DOJ is close to a decision on whether it will block or bless the proposed ad agreement between Google and Yahoo.