THE PARTNERSHIP: Under an agreement announced in June, Google Inc. will sell some of the online advertisements displayed alongside search results on Yahoo's Inc. site. Yahoo has projected the deal will increase its operating cash flow by $250 million to $450 million in the first year.
THE INVESTIGATION: Antitrust attorneys at the Justice Department are studying whether the partnership is anticompetitive and whether to bring a court challenge to try to stop it.
THE NEXT STEP: If the Justice Department does sue, Google and Yahoo could fight or they could just walk away from the deal. Or they could offer up voluntary conditions to head off a possible legal challenge. If the government does not make its intentions clear soon, the two companies could simply move ahead with their partnership and wait to see whether the government acts.
