Google Receives DOJ Request for Additional Info On AdMeld Buy

Google has acknowledged receiving a “second request” for additional information from the Department of Justice, as it continues to review whether the company’s planned purchase of AdMeld would impede competition in the space.

In a blog post, Neil Mohan, VP of display advertising, noted: “This doesn’t surprise us, as today’s display advertising industry is very new and highly complex.”

The company used the opportunity to trot out its arguments on why it believes there’s plenty of competition in display advertising, implying that the DOJ should approve the transaction.

Mohan wrote that buyers and sellers of display ads have a wide variety of ways to conduct sales, through direct sales, networks, exhanges, demand and supply platforms and private exchanges. Google even produced a handy PDF of quotes collected from the media, including comments from competitors, agencies and publishers. Bravado by competitors claiming not to be concerned about Google’s entry into the publisher optimization space should perhaps be taken with a grain of sale, however.

Google announced its planned acquisition of AdMeld, for a reported $400 million, in mid-June. We reported on the DOJ review later that week.