On November 5, 2008, Google Inc. (Google) announced that it had terminated a non-exclusive advertising services agreement (the Agreement) with Yahoo! Inc. (Yahoo!) entered into by the parties in June.
Under the Agreement, Yahoo! would have enjoyed the option of displaying Google's "sponsored search" ads in place of, or in addition to, its own sponsored search ads in the United States and Canada.
While the parties announced the Agreement in June, they voluntarily delayed implementation to permit antitrust/competition authorities in the United States and Canada to review the Agreement. Notwithstanding changes proposed by the parties to alleviate potential concerns raised by antitrust authorities, the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division (US DOJ) informed the parties on November 5 of its intention to file an antitrust lawsuit to block its implementation. Google thereafter announced that it had terminated the Agreement, prompting the US DOJ and the Canadian Competition Bureau to discontinue their respective investigations.
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