• September 16, 2008

The European Union is investigating whether Google's plan to power some paid search ads on Yahoo sites violates Europe's antitrust laws, Reuters reported Monday. Google and Yahoo said the arrangement will only cover search ads in North America, but the deal has still raised concerns in Europe.

The global organization World Association of Newspapers came out against the deal. "Google's ever-tightening grip on internet traffic, its unbridled use of online content, and its dominance in online advertising poses a very real threat to the continued viability of the independent content generation industry," the group wrote.

The Newspaper Association of America, which belongs to the World Association of Newspapers, said Monday that it had not taken a position on the Google-Yahoo search ad deal.--Wendy Davis