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DC lawmakers want the Federal Trade Commission to do more than rubber-stamp Google's $3.1 billion DoubleClick acquisition. Heavy hitters in the Senate on the antitrust subcommittee want the FTC to look closely at the Google-DoubleClick deal. A statement on Senator Orrin Hatch's (R-Ut) website noted the letter, containing the concerns of Hatch, Herb Kohl (D-Wi), and the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights.

"This proposed acquisition would combine the world’s largest Internet search company, Google, with DoubleClick, the leading company that places advertising on the Internet. The implications of this merger for the Internet advertising market – and for the Internet as a whole – are profound and potentially far reaching," the Subcommittee said in the letter.

"While we have not reached any definitive conclusion regarding this issue, we urge that you only approve the merger if you determine that it will not cause any substantial lessening of competition with respect to Internet advertising," they continued.

Their message comes a few days after European Competition commissioner Neelie Kroes disappointed Google with the news of an extension of the ongoing review of the purchase in Europe. Google had anticipated closing the deal before the end of 2007, but the EC review won't be completed until April 2008.

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