• The Wall Street Journal, Friday, June 15, 2007 11:03 AM

Last month's spate of advertising acquisitions by major Web firms and ad-holding companies has created a pile of work for the Federal Trade Commission. While Google-DoubleClick, the first such announcement, is still receiving the third degree, the FTC this week approved ad giant WPP Group's proposed acquisition of interactive ad serving giant 24/7 Real Media.

Per the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust act, which requires government approval of mergers and acquisitions that could significantly affect competition in a given industry, the FTC will next shift its focus to two other major proposals: Microsoft's $6 billion bid for aQuantive, and Yahoo's $680 million bid for the remaining 80% of the closely held ad-exchange Right Media it didn't already own.

Google's DoubleClick deal is getting a formal investigation from the FTC, having received comments and concerns from potential media industry competitors and advertising partners. Formal GoogleClick approval is still months away. Microsoft and Yahoo would likely be subjected to similar scrutiny. The FTC hasn't yet requested the additional information that would indicate a more thorough review.

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