SMX East. The deal — which was originally set to begin this coming Saturday — has been postponed (voluntarily) to give the U.S. government time to review it. Wired.com’s Epicenter blog covered today’s keynote, and quoted Armstrong on the likelihood that Google will have to wait longer for the Justice Dept. to do its thing: “We will patiently wait with them. We don’t have any idea what the final outcome will be, but we’re working with them to figure out when they figure out what they’re going to do.”

On a related note, Slate looks at the pros and cons of the Google-Yahoo deal — with an emphasis on the cons. The article quotes Microsoft attorney Brad Smith, who shared his company’s objections to a congressional panel this summer: “Never before in the history of advertising has one company been in the position to control prices on up to 90 percent of advertising in a single medium. Not in television, not in radio, not in publishing. It should not happen on the Internet.”

Google isn’t making friends with some in the open source community. eWeek’s Google Watch reports on a battle over how the unofficial ChromePlugins.org web site is using the Google Chrome logo, icons, and comic. Author Clint Bolton points out that the site in question has violated the “no derivative works” aspect of the comic’s Creative Commons license, but also notes that Google isn’t going after larger sites that have done the same thing.

TechRadar.com takes a loooong look at the current state of Microsoft in a piece titled, Has Microsoft lost it? The article covers a variety of issues Microsoft is facing, from Apple’s growth to open source software to its low search market share, and quotes CEO Steve Ballmer on the company’s future search plans:

“We’ll introduce new approaches that move beyond a white page with 10 blue links to provide customers with a customized view of their world,” he wrote. “This is a long-term battle for our company—and it’s one we’ll continue to fight with persistence and tenacity.”

And finally, the Yahoo exodus continues with the departure of Valeh Vakili, Yahoo’s director of U.S. sales. CNET reports that Vakili will go to MySpace to become senior vice president of sales strategy and operations.

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Search Biz