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Google and Yahoo have announced that they will delay their controversial advertising partnership for about a month.  Both companies say the delay is designed to give them more time to deal with the Department of Justice and its concerns about a possible antitrust issue.

“The companies have agreed to a brief delay in implementing this agreement to continue our ongoing discussions with the (U.S.) Department of Justice,” Yahoo said in a statement. “We have had discussions with regulators and look forward to responding to their questions about this agreement.”

The deal allows Google to sell some of Yahoo’s advertising space.  Advertisers greeted the announcement of the deal with deep concerns and fear of higher ad rates.  Google claims that since it sells its ads via auction they have no control over prices.

August saw a 63% rise in Google’s web search market share, while Yahoo, once the premiere search engine, dropped to 19.6%.  Legal experts suspect the deal may be in trouble, especially after the DOJ brought in a top litigator to work on it.  Many believe the deal was created to fight Microsoft’s attempts to acquire Yahoo.  If the deal is approved, it will increase Yahoo’s annual revenues by $800 million.

Read[Reuters]