EC to probe Google's $3.1B DoubleClick buy

BRUSSELS, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- European Union regulators Tuesday said they would begin an in-depth review of Google Inc.'s planned $3.1 billion purchase of online advertiser DoubleClick Inc.

The European Commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, said it would review the acquisition for 90 working days and make a ruling by April 2.

It said it was concerned the purchase would give Google too much control over the $40.6 billion global online-ad sales market.

Competitors Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp. and AT&T Inc. have expressed antitrust concerns. Other groups have complained the combination would harm consumers' privacy.

DoubleClick's technology places ads on Web sites, counts them, chooses the ads that will make a Web site or advertiser the most money and monitors progress of different advertising campaigns.

The company has also been linked to "spyware" because its Internet browser cookies record what ads users view and select while on Web sites.

New York's DoubleClick has said its ad-serving tags are different from spyware.

Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said his company was "obviously disappointed" by the commission's decision.

He said Google, of Mountain View, Calif., would continue to work with regulators "to demonstrate how our proposed acquisition will benefit publishers, advertisers and consumers."