Washington - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday cleared Google's (NASD: GOOG) $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertising firm DoubleClick, which now only needs approval from the European Commission, which is still examining the transaction. The 4-1 vote closed the FTC's eight-month investigation into the deal, which it said "is unlikely to substantially lessen competition."

"The FTC's strong support sends a clear message: this acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers," said Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt.

"We hope that the European Commission will soon reach the same conclusion, and we are confident that this deal will deliver more relevant ads for consumers, more choices for advertisers, and more opportunities for website publishers."

The FTC stressed that it was only authorized to review potential anticompetitive issues raised by the deal, and released a companion set of principles to address privacy concerns as related to online behavioral advertising.

Related Links:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/12/googledc.shtm

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/12/principles.shtm

http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/20071220_doubleclick.html