The US Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has sent a letter to anti-trust regulators opposing the online search advertising deal between Google and Yahoo!.
The ANA claims that the deal will give the two companies control of 90% of search advertising in the US.
Bob Liodice, the president and chief executive of the ANA, said that the letter outlines the group’s “concerns that the partnership will likely diminish competition, increase concentration of market power, limit choices currently available and potentially raise prices to advertisers for high quality, affordable search advertising”.
The ANA sent the letter to Thomas O Barnett, the assistant attorney general of the US Department of Justice, which is currently under review by the DOJ (see US Regulators Investigate Yahoo!/Google Deal).
The group said that in preparing the letter, it conducted a comprehensive, independent analysis, which included input from the board’s members and face-to-face discussions with Google and Yahoo.
In a statement, Yahoo! said: “”We are disappointed with the ANA board’s position regarding Yahoo’s non-exclusive search marketing agreement with Google.
“Yahoo remains steadfast in its belief that this deal – in which prices are determined by advertiser demand-driven auctions, and not by collaboration between Yahoo and Google – will strengthen Yahoo’s competitive position in online advertising and will help to drive a more robust, higher quality Yahoo marketplace for our advertisers.”
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