Opinion of the Advisory Committee on Mergers given at its meeting of 28 February 2008 regarding a draft decision relating to Case COMP/M.4731 — Google/DoubleClick — Rapporteur: Belgium
Date: 2008-02-28
Institutions: Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions
Subjects: Internet, advertising, advisory committee (EU), competition law, economic concentration, merger control, network server, restrictive-practice authorisation, service

C 184/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

22.7.2008

Opinion of the Advisory Committee on Mergers given at its meeting of 28 February 2008 regarding
a draft decision relating to Case COMP/M.4731 — Google/DoubleClick

Rapporteur: Belgium

(2008/C 184/04)

1. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the notified operation constitutes a concentra-

tion within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the EC Merger Regulation.

2. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the notified operation is deemed to have a

Community dimension following the referral pursuant to Article 4(5) of the EC Merger Regulation.

3. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the markets to be considered are:

— the market for provision of online advertising space that could be possibly further subdivided into

markets for search advertising and for non-search advertising,

— the market for intermediation in online advertising that could be possibly further subdivided into

markets for search advertising intermediation and for non-search advertising intermediation,

— the market for provision of online display ad serving technology that could be possibly further subdi-

vided between provision of such services to advertisers and to publishers.

4. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that:

— the market for provision of online advertising space, both for search and non-search, is to be consid-

ered alongside national or linguistic borders within the EEA,

— the market for intermediation in online advertising, both for search and non-search,

is at least

EEA-wide in scope,

— the market for provision of online display ad serving technology, that could be further subdivided
between provision of such services to advertisers and to publishers, is at least EEA-wide in scope.

5. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission's assessment that the notified operation would not
significantly impede effective competition with regards to the elimination of actual competition between
the parties to the transaction.

6. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission's assessment that the notified operation would not
significantly impede effective competition with regards to the elimination of the parties as a potential
competitor to each other.

7. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission's assessment that the notified operation would not

significantly impede effective competition as regards its non-horizontal effects.

8. The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the notified concentration should be declared
compatible with the Common Market and with the functioning of the EEA Agreement in accordance
with Article 8(1) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of the EEA Agreement.