Google is ending its bid for a joint search advertising partnership with Yahoo to avert a 'a protracted legal battle' with regulators.
David Drummond, senior vice president and chief legal officer at Google, said the deal announced earlier this year faced an uphill fight with US Justice Department anti-trust regulators.
'After four months of review, including discussions of various possible changes to the agreement, it's clear that government regulators and some advertisers continue to have concerns about the agreement,' he said in the Google blog.
'Pressing ahead risked not only a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships with valued partners. That wouldn't have been in the long-term interests of Google or our users, so we have decided to end the agreement.'
Between them, Google and Yahoo had more than 80% of the web search market in August, according to comScore Inc.
