Microsoft's proposedsearch engine alliance with Yahoohas won support
from the heads of four of the world's biggest advertising agencies,
who said the deal would "enhance competition".
The heads of Publicis Groupe, WPP, Interpublic and Omnicom
signed a letter of support from Nancy Hill, CEO of the American
Association of Advertising Agencies, to the Department of Justice
(DoJ), which is
investigating the deal, the
Financial Times reported.
The letter said the deal would enhance competition and asked
that it be allowed to take effect as soon as possible.
When Google tried to do its own deal with Yahoo a year ago,
WPP's Martin Sorrell was against it, but Maurice Levy of Publicis
Groupe was for it. The deal foundered when the DoJ said it would
block it under antitrust laws.
The signatories wrote, "We believe that Yahoo and Microsoft's
proposal to combine their technologies and search platforms is good
for advertisers, marketing services agencies, website publishers
and consumers."
Microsoft and Yahoo said earlier that they hoped to finalise
their partnership early next year. They have yet to seek the
European Commission's approval, the FT said.