Microsoft’s bid to acquire online marketing firm aQuantive for $6 billion has cleared an antitrust regulatory hurdle, the companies said today. The FTC-mandated waiting period to review anticompetitive fallout from large mergers has passed without additional inquiries from the FTC, clearing the companies to move forward with the deal.

A shareholder meeting is scheduled for Aug. 9; if shareholders approve the deal it will close shortly thereafter. SmartMoney’s FTC Clears Microsoft’s $6 Billion aQuantive Buyout has more.

Meanwhile, both Yahoo’s offer for Right Media and Google’s offer to purchase DoubleClick are still under antitrust review by the FTC.

Related Topics: Microsoft: Business Issues

About The Author: Chris Sherman (@CJSherman) is Executive Editor of SearchEngineLand.com and President of Searchwise LLC, a Boulder Colorado based Web consulting firm. He also programs and co-chairs the Search Marketing Expo - SMX conference series. See more articles by Chris Sherman