The European Commission authorised, on 22 January, the proposed creation of a joint venture by four German online marketing agencies: SevenOne Media (a subsidiary of ProSiebenSat1), G+J Electronic Media Service, IP Deutschland (both subsidiaries of Bertelsmann Group), and Tomorrow Focus Portal (subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media). The four agencies are active in the sale of online advertising space on behalf of websites operated by their parent companies. The proposed joint venture will develop and sell a new product to allow advertisers to reach better defined target groups of internet users. The EU executive found that, given the parties’ limited market shares in online advertising and the presence of strong competitors like Google, the operation is not likely to act as a hindrance to competition in the European Economic Area or in any significant part of it.