CAMPAIGN AGAINST GOOGLE-DOUBLECLICK MERGER.

• Position: Brief article

Like American consumer groups, European consumer associations have concerns about the merger plans between the online advertiser DoubleClick and the number one search engine, Google. In a letter dated 18 December, the heads of three consumer associations, Spain's OCU, Germany's vzbv and Italy's Altroconsumo, together with the European federation, BEUC, urged Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes to "integrate privacy concerns into the Google-DoubleClick merger review process". The deal - worth 3.1 billion US dollars - would allow the two companies to combine a huge database and to eliminate all protection of...