There's been a lot of debate about whether Google's search deal with Yahoo is good for advertising agencies, but according to a report in AdWeek, many Madison Ave. executives are quietly worried that the search giant could unfairly affect online competition.
"We're concerned about the Yahoo deal," said Rob Norman, CEO of WPP-owned GroupM North America. "For advertisers to prosper, they need competitive markets. We think Google is a fantastic company. Our sense is that if the transaction with Yahoo proceeds, there's the potential the development of [Yahoo ad system] Panama and other competing systems will atrophy over time."
According to AdWeek, Norman was one of the few agency executives willing to comment about the deal on the record.
While the Justice Department is a month away from making a decision on the deal, some details of the agreement emerged yesterday when Yahoo released its quarterly report. But Yahoo's disclosure failed to answer key questions advertisers want answered, including financial details and to what extent Yahoo and Google would share data on consumer behavior.
