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Google-DoubleClick Merger Tainted By FTC Chief, Group Says

A consumer privacy watchdog group has sued the Federal Trade Commission for failing to provide information on a possible conflict of interest in the agency's review of Google's acquisition of Internet ad servicing firm DoubleClick.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center says FTC Chief Deborah Platt Majoras was a partner with the Jones Day law firm, which counseled DoubleClick on the $3.1 billion merger with Google.

The group also says Majoras' husband, John, is a partner at Jones Day and works with former FTC employees Geoffrey Oliver and Michael S. McFalls.

The agency approved the merger in December, saying the deal was "unlikely to substantially lessen competition" in the online advertising market.

In its complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, EPIC says it filed a formal complaint with the FTC Dec. 12, requesting that Majoras recuse herself from the agency's review of the pending merger.

She refused, and the five-member panel approved the merger Dec. 20.

EPIC filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking FTC documents concerning the role Jones Day played in the agency's review of the merger.

The group says the FTC acknowledged receiving the request but has not produced any documents, thus violating the FOIA's 20-day statutory deadline.

The agency also failed to say which documents, if any, it intends to produce in response to the information request, EPIC's complaint says.

The group is seeking an injunction to compel the release of the requested records.

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EPIC is represented by staff members John Verdi and Marc Rotenberg of the group's Washington office.