Russia Blocks Google Ad Acquisition

Russian regulators have halted Google's attempt to acquire one of the company's major online advertising firm.

Google may have broken through American and European governmental opposition to its high-profile mergers in the past, but a new attempt to partner with a Russian company has left the company stymied by Moscow. According to the New York Times, Russia’s antitrust authorities nixed Google’s attempt to acquire online advertising firm Begun on Friday.

The proposed merger would have given Google access to a network with 40,000 advertisers across 143,000 Russian Web sites. The Federal Antimonopoly Service put a stop on the deal, but didn’t provide many details as to why, besides a generic desire to foster competition.

“We are very disappointed to hear that FAS has come to this decision,” Google said in a statement, according to the Times. “We strongly believe that this acquisition will enable us to significantly improve opportunities for Russian users, advertisers and publishers as well as the entire industry.”

Google had previously overcome the scrutiny of both American and European regulators to seal a deal with advertising firm DoubleClick in both respective markets.