Justice Department delays MS, Yahoo deal approval

The Justice Department is asking Microsoft and Yahoo for more information regarding a proposed deal between the two companies related to online online search and advertising, according to the New York Times. This indicates the Justice Department will not approve the proposed agreement quickly and will instead look into it further to check for possible anti-competitive behavior. Representatives at both Microsoft and Yahoo confirmed the request on Thursday, which was expected by Microsoft.

The agreement if greenlit would see Yahoo using Microsoft's new Bing search engine on its websites, with Yahoo selling ads that appear along with the search results. Yahoo would also use Microsoft’s AdCenter advertising sales technology.

This is an attempt to dethrone Google from the top spot, and is believed to be a strict revenue sharing operation rather than one party making an upfront payment to the other.

By Electronista Staff