• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, October 17, 2008

In its latest attempt to convince the Justice Department to greenlight the Yahoo deal, Google is asking search marketers to try to sell the pact to federal authorities.

Search marketer Darrin Nix, who said he spends around $100,000 advertising on Google, told TechCrunch he received a phone call from a Google lawyer asking for his help at the DoJ.

Nix said he was "a free-market competition kind of guy" and that Google's lawyer gave up on trying to persuade him after around 15 minutes, according to Techcrunch. CNet adds that Nix is worried that the price of search ads will increase if a deal goes forward.

While Nix might have turned down Google's request for help, Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer seems to have inadvertently bolstered the case for YaGoogle. Speaking to Gartner analysts in Orlando, Fla., Ballmer said Thursday that a deal still makes economic sense. A Microsoft spokesman clarified that the companies weren't in talks. Nonetheless, Ballmer's comments show what's at stake should the Justice Department block Yahoo's plan to outsource some paid search ads to Google.

Yahoo only forged this deal to fight off Microsoft's hostile takeover bid. Should the agreement collapse, Ballmer will surely swoop in and try to take over Yahoo again.

One of the Justice Department's concerns about the Yahoo-Google deal is that Yahoo might outsource so many ads to Google that Yahoo all but exits the search marketplace. DoJ officials are now asking the companies for an assurance that Yahoo will retain its own paid search program, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal.

But to position this promise as a concession is odd, given that Yahoo has always maintained it wanted to stay competitive in search. If not, it could have sold its paid search business to Microsoft months ago.