Google Agrees To Travel Search Monitoring As Part Of ITA Deal (GOOG, MSFT)

According to Bloomberg, Google GOOG has agreed to Justice Department monitoring of travel search and services in order to secure approval of its $700 million purchase of ITA Software. If the deal was to go through with that agreement in place, Google would be subject to compulsory licensing and have to create firewalls on client data. The deal would also open the door for a larger investigation of Google by the Justice Department. The Federal Trade Commission is currently considering a possible probe of Google's search business. Rivals such as Microsoft MSFT will be watching the progress of the deal closely, as MSFT has accused GOOG of harming competition.