WebProNews

The passage of time isn't making people look upon the potential Google-Yahoo search ad deal with any more favor.  The World Federation of Advertisers has now joined a large group of organizations by stepping forward and objecting to the partnership.

At least a couple of the WFA's reasons aren't too surprising; it claims an agreement "will have a detrimental effect on competition" and "result in price increases."  The entity's third objection is where something more interesting enters the equation.

 

"Although Google and Yahoo insist this agreement is limited to North America, WFA believes that the effects will be global," according to a statement.  "[T]he substantial benefits for both parties in the US and Canada will almost certainly reduce their incentive to compete in other markets as they do today."

As a result, the WFA has written to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition.  EU officials were already investigating the matter, but it looks like we've reached the point at which the partnership's opponents are trying to (a) unearth every possible friend, and (b) assemble a united front.

Google and Yahoo must be less than pleased to see all this cooperation take place.  Still, there's no sign that the companies intend to do anything other than move ahead with their deal sometime in October.