The U.S. Department of Justice is looking into possible antitrust implications in Google Inc.'s search test with Yahoo Inc., according to reports Wednesday.
Reuters, citing a source who was told of the matter, said some concerns center around a telephone call from Mountain View, Calif.-based Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt to Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang, in which they may have discussed ways to thwart a takeover attempt of Yahoo by Microsoft Corp.
Earlier this month Yahoo said it would begin a limited test of Google's AdSense for Search service, which will deliver relevant Google ads alongside Yahoo's own search results.
Yahoo said the test would apply only to traffic from yahoo.com in the U.S. and not include Yahoo's extended network of affiliate or premium publisher partners.
The test is expected to last up to two weeks and will be limited to no more than 3 percent of Yahoo search queries, the company said.
Yahoo said the testing does not necessarily mean that Yahoo will join the AdSense for Search program or that any further commercial relationship with Google would result.
Yahoo has been talking with Google as part of its search for alternatives to Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) unsolicited $44.6 billion acquisition offer.
