A group of Northern California lawmakers are lobbying for Google's advertising partnership with Yahoo.
A letter to the US Justice Department was signed Monday by 11 House Democrats, including Silicon Valley congressmembers Anna Eshoo, Zoe Lofgren, Mike Honda, Jackie Speier, Sam Farr and Ellen Tauscher. They say the multi-million dollar deal to sell Google's ads alongside Yahoo's search results is neither out of the ordinary nor anti-competitive.
The Justice Department is thinking about blocking the partnership in court. Regulators are worried the deal would drive up the price of online ads, and give Google a virtual monopoly on the market.
The deal is facing scrutiny from the House and Senate, antitrust regulators in Europe, advertisers and the Internet's 3rd most powerful company, Microsoft.
