Updated below:
For now, it is preliminary…the inquiry began at the end of last week, after it was decided that the Federal Trade Commission instead of the Justice Department would conduct the review, NYTimes reports. This is a pre “second-request” procedure (see more on second request in this FTC PDF document), and FTC will decide within a few weeks if it needs to escalate the issue to a full inquiry, though even with that, it doesn’t really mean much beyond a “hard look” at the deal. Many groups, both digital rights groups and Google competitors, have expressed concerns and filed with the FTC voicing their concerns. Early days though…this will be a longish merger procedure.
Updated: WSJ reports that FTC is already asking for “second request”, and says it did so Friday. “We are confident that upon further review the FTC will conclude that this acquisition poses no risk to competition and should be approved,” Google said in a statement.