Admeld

Yahoo hires former Google exec as revenue chief

Yahoo has hired Michael Barrett as executive vice president and chief revenue officer.

Barrett will lead Yahoo's ad revenue and operations worldwide, the company announced today. In his new role, Barrett will report directly to Yahoo interim CEO Ross Levinsohn. He will start in his new position in July.

All Things Digital was first to report the news.

Barrett was the chief executive of online-advertising firm Admeld before joining Google last year after the search giant acquired his company for $400 million. Since then, Admeld has continued to operate as it did before. The company's Web site, in … Read more

Google wins DOJ approval for Admeld buy

The U.S. Department of Justice has given Google the go-ahead to complete its $400 million acquisition of AdMeld.

"The Antitrust Division obtained extensive information from Google, Admeld and a wide range of market participants in connection with its merger investigation of the proposed transaction," the Justice Department said in a statement today. "After a thorough review of the evidence, the division concluded that the transaction is not likely to substantially lessen competition in the sale of display advertising."

Google announced plans to acquire Admeld in June. The search giant said at the time that the … Read more

Google's AdMeld acquisition gets new DOJ scrutiny

Antitrust authorities at the U.S. Justice Department have submitted a second request for information on Google's plan to acquire Internet advertising company Admeld, the companies said yesterday.

The move means a new round of scrutiny, and thus more waiting, for the Admeld acquisition, reported to be for about $400 million when it was announced in June.

Google's biggest ad business is for search ads that appear next to search results, but it's been trying to expand in the domain of more traditional display ads--the graphics such as banner ads that often tout big brand names. Admeld … Read more

Google's deal for Admeld faces antitrust review

Google's purchase of Internet advertising company Admeld will be subjected to an antitrust review by the Justice Department, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

Google sought to portray the advantages of the $400 million deal while responding to media inquiries regarding the reported investigation.

"This acquisition is designed to help publishers get the most from the rapidly growing display advertising industry, which is both complicated and incredibly competitive," Google spokesman Rob Shilkin said in a statement to The Times. "The emergence in recent years of a huge variety of … Read more

Google finalizes deal to acquire Admeld

Late last week, there were conflicting reports as to how close Google was to finalizing a deal to buy Admeld. Now, it's official. Google confirmed the acquisition on its official blog, noting that it will give the Goog a bigger boost in developing interactive display ads:

By combining Admeld's services, expertise and technology with Google's offerings, we're investing in what we hope will be an improved era of flexible ad management tools for major publishers. Together with Admeld, we hope to make display advertising simpler, more efficient and more valuable, provide improved support and services, and … Read more