NEWS RELEASE

Committee on Energy and Commerce
Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman

Rush and Whitfield To Probe Online Advertising

Google-DoubleClick Merger, Recent Microsoft Bid for Yahoo Point to Increased Consolidation, Concerns About Competition and Consumer Privacy

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-IL), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Ranking Member of that subcommittee, today issued the following statements regarding recent developments in online advertising and the Subcommittee’s plans for this year.

“Last month, the Subcommittee released its draft agenda which included plans to hold a hearing on the privacy issues raised by last year’s mergers in the online advertising space. The recent announcement by Microsoft demonstrates that consolidation of companies in the Internet advertising world will continue, irrespective of whether this specific deal materializes. The Subcommittee intends to request a confidential briefing from the appropriate Government regulators, and to schedule a hearing this Spring to explore the tough competition and consumer privacy issues that have been and will be raised by this activity, ” said Rep. Rush.

Voicing similar concerns, Rep. Whitfield noted, “Recent mergers in the search and online advertising worlds raise significant privacy concerns. I joined 11 of my Republican colleagues last fall in requesting Chairman Rush look into the privacy issues raised by the mergers of online search and online advertising firms. I am pleased Chairman Rush has committed to scheduling a hearing on these matters and I look forward to working with him as we investigate what personal information these types of companies glean from consumers’ use of the internet, and how those data sets may be combined for future use.”

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