Google and Yahoo Ad Deal Delayed

Justice Dept. Needs More Review Time, Companies Say

Google and Yahoo will delay implementation of their joint advertising deal to give antitrust lawyers at the Justice Department more time to review the agreement, the companies said yesterday.

The additional delay will be less than a month, said a source close to negotiations who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The announcement is another sign that the Justice Department has developed significant concerns about the agreement, which would join two of the most dominant companies on the Web. The deal calls for Google to provide ads to run alongside some queries conducted on Yahoo's search engine.

"The companies have agreed to a brief delay in implementing this agreement to continue our ongoing discussions with the Department of Justice," Google said in a statement.

"We have had discussions with regulators and look forward to responding to their questions about this agreement," Yahoo said.

Since the deal was announced June 12, company officials have argued that it would be unprecedented for the Justice Department to stop a deal of its kind.

As recently as two weeks ago, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said the company will move forward with the deal even before the Justice Department concludes its review.

"Time is money in our business," Schmidt said.

Critics say the deal would allow the two companies, who rank number one and number two in the booming search advertising field, to operate as a monopoly.

Over the summer, the department has made moves that suggest the approval is not being treated as a routine matter. In a signal that a formal investigation had opened, the department issued "civil investigative demands" for information to the companies. And earlier this month, the department hired Sandy Litvack, a veteran antitrust attorney, to oversee the review.