Responding to word that the Federal Trade Commission has begun an initial investigation into Google's $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick, the search giant's Chairman Eric Schmidt said he believed U.S. regulators would soon approve the deal.

"We're quite convinced that the proposed merger meets all of the appropriate U.S. laws and is ultimately very good for consumers and for advertisers and publishers," Schmidt said at a news conference.

While the FTC's investigation will focus on the antitrust implications of the deal, Schmidt also addressed concerns raised by privacy advocates, saying that Google had "looked very carefully" at the privacy issue.

In April, several privacy groups blasted the deal, calling on the FTC to investigate privacy concerns raised by such a large partnership.

Schmidt predicted that the deal would be approved and complete by the end of the year, adding that he was not concerned that the FTC, and not the Justice Department, was investigating the acquisition.

The Justice Department and the FTC share jurisdictional authority to investigate antitrust claims, although the FTC more commonly looks into issues such as consumer protection and privacy.