Google's Grip Tightens

Closing its DoubleClick acquisition would be a huge win for Google(GOOG Quote).

And a Federal Trade Commission ruling last week that the deal doesn't violate antitrust laws is a major coup for the search engine giant.

While the transaction still has to be cleared by European Union regulators -- who are expected to deliver a verdict by April 2 -- the FTC decision is likely to influence the EU to rule in Google's favor.

With DoubleClick under its roof, Google will be able to sell advertisers search and online display ads together -- a more powerful combination than selling either type of ad individually.

Microsoft(MSFT Quote) and Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) already offer customers both types of ads. But given the market share that Google and DoubleClick command in the search and display market, respectively, Web rivals would have a tough time keeping up with the combined heft of the two companies.

For starters, DoubleClick would make Google the overnight leader in the display ad serving market.

DoubleClick is currently the biggest player in the roughly $800 million display ad-serving market with a 40% market share, according to Oppenheimer analyst Sandeep Aggarwal. That will complement Google's strength in the search market, where the company commanded a 59% market share of search queries in November, according to ComScore.

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