Google Buys DoubleClick After EU Signs Off

Google acquired ad tracker DoubleClick today after EU regulators approved the $3.1 billion deal, the AP reports. Antitrust officials dismissed concerns about competition, saying Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL also provide “credible” online ad services. The ruling ducked questions of how private data will be handled, an issue that riles privacy advocates on both sides of the pond.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt hailed the move, saying that with DoubleClick, Google will speed innovation and user targeting in advertising. An EU probe into Google’s use of private data is pending, but American privacy advocates have slammed Europe for aiding "a growing digital colossus that will shape much of the global future of the Internet." US regulators approved the DoubleClick purchase in December. (More Google stories.)