Google, Yahoo! ad deal on track for October

The partnership to place some Google ads next to Yahoo!'s search results will go into effect by early October, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt told Bloomberg on Thursday, indicating the deal hasn't been derailed, at least so far, by antitrust scrutiny.

The companies gave themselves three and a half months to start the partnership when it was announced on 12 June, and Schmidt's latest comment indicates the deal is still on that schedule. That time period runs through about the first week of October.

Schmidt told Bloomberg Television: "We are going to move forward."

"We are in the process of talking to the government. They've not indicated one way or the other how they're dealing with us," he said of the antitrust scrutiny. "We always worry a little bit but we think our arguments are pretty strong...Yahoo! has made it very, very clear they're going to take the best parts of their network and ours and combine them."

The deal is the most prominent part of Yahoo!'s effort to become more financially successful. The internet company said it expects up to $800m in revenue and $250m to $450m in new operating cash flow over the first year of the deal.

Original article: Schmidt: Yahoo-Google deal set to start in October from CNET News.com