Google set up for perfect antitrust storm

Google’s timing couldn’t be worse. Jack Flack at Conde Nast ticks off at least a dozen reasons

why Google will indeed end up fighting an antitrust lawsuit as a result of its ad-sharing deal with Yahoo. And one main point that’s hard to argue with is the considerable pro-regulation atmosphere in Washington, D.C., now that legislators are mulling a $700 billion bailout of Wall St. and the lack of oversight that made it necessary. Everyone’s a bit more regulation-happy, and that doesn’t bode well for Google.

In a charged atmosphere, where even Network World is calling out the Wall St. fat cats and looking for redress, a company like Google, with more than 70% of the online advertising market, is an easy target. Couple that with the fact that Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt doesn’t seem to be taking the various regulators investigating the deal very seriously, and Google could be setting itself up for a slogging antitrust mess.

While Google of late has tried to calm regulatory fears about the deal, it still has a long way to go if it wants to sidestep a suit entirely. And it’s timing for beginning the deal, just a couple of weeks after the stock market crash of ’08, couldn’t be worse.