Google expanded its power in online advertising on Tuesday when it completed its takeover of DoubleClick, a move that increases the pressure on rival Microsoft to win its hostile bid for Yahoo!. The merger came after European regulators signed off on the deal, and strengthened Google’s domination of the lucrative online ad business.
In spite of its global popularity, internet telephony (voice-over-internet protocol, or VoIP), which is almost free for users, has not become a gold mine for its pioneers such as Skype and Vonage. Popular online auction firm eBay, which bought Skype two years ago for ,6-billion, affirmed that message in a costly way on Monday.