Google says EU competition probe should not consider privacy

The takeover has already been cleared by US consumer regulator the Federal Trade Commission but awaits approval from the European Commission, which is responsible for competition regulation in Europe. Though Google said that the Parliamentary hearing made an association between privacy and competition, the Commission itself has not yet mentioned such a link.

A European Parliament hearing into privacy on the internet discussed the proposed takeover. Google's global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer attacked the blurring of boundaries between competition law and privacy safeguards.

"People [are] trying to take a privacy case and shoehorn it into a competition law review," he said, according to news agency Reuters. "I can understand that people continue to peddle this theory in Europe after having lost in the United States."

Dutch MEP Sophie in t'Veld, who was behind the hearing, said that the acquisition of information was what made companies such as Google powerful, and what made privacy issues a factor in a competition inquiry.

"The reason you want to have the data is because it gives you a competitive advantage. It is business. I don't think they can be completely disconnected. And we should discuss that side of things too," she said, according to Reuters. "Having that much information is market power."

The executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC), a lobby group, tied privacy to the merger. He said that the power that will be amassed by the combined company "underscore[s] the need to bring data protection into account when the responsible authorities review the merger".

The DoubleClick acquisition will be assessed by EU competition authorities over fears that it could hand Google too much power in the market for internet advertising. Google is the biggest company in the pay-per-click ad market, while DoubleClick is dominant in the serving of display ads.

Though the deal is still being investigated by the European Commission it is unusual for the Commission to block FTC-approved deals involving only American companies.