Google, the US online search giant, has gained US regulatory approval for its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick but is still waiting on Europe to give its go-ahead to seal the deal.

The European Commission (EC) has set a deadline of April 2 to finish its review of the transaction after the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accepted arguments from Google that a combination with DoubleClick will not stifle online advertising.

Eric Schmidt, chief executive at Google, said: “The FTC’s strong support sends a clear message: this acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers.

“We hope that the European Commission will soon reach the same conclusion.”

In November, the EC delayed the deal to conduct a full-scale investigation to examine any potential competition concerns.

Google contends its business doesn’t overlap with DoubleClick’s and as a result a combination won’t reduce competition.

However, privacy advocates opposed the deal, saying the combined company will have access to a huge amount of data on individual Web-surfing habits. The FTC said it lacked the legal authority to block the deal on any grounds except on antitrust matters.

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