Advocacy groups take aim at Google-Yahoo partnership

Top Google executives said Thursday they are interested in a partnership with their closest rival but didn't indicate how close they were to an agreement.

A coalition of 16 civil rights and rural advocacy groups, including the Black Leadership Forum and the League of Rural Voters, on Friday urged federal regulators to investigate the potential combination.

The Black Leadership Forum is an umbrella group of 36 civil rights organizations, including the NAACP and the National Urban League.

The groups argued in a letter to Assistant Attorney General Thomas Barnett, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, that the deal would give Google almost 90 percent of the search advertising market and strengthen its influence over Internet users' access to information.

Separately, the Center for Digital Democracy, a consumer advocacy group, said it will push U.S. regulators to block any deal and is already urging European consumer groups to raise concerns with European Union officials. The EU generally takes a tougher approach on antitrust, fining Microsoft Corp. $1.3 billion for anticompetitive conduct earlier this year.

"You can't allow Google to operate a portion of its leading competitor out of its back pocket," said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of CDD.

While previous attempts to block deals by both the CDD and civil rights organizations have proved unsuccessful, their opposition won't be the only hurdle to a Google-Yahoo partnership.

The Justice Department has already made inquiries about an ad partnership test the two had for two weeks last month. And, Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., who chairs a subcommittee overseeing antitrust issues, said last month he would closely scrutinize any permanent deal.

Spokespeople from Yahoo and Google declined to comment on the groups' letter. But Google executives said Thursday they would seek to address regulators' objections.