Seat of skeptics

Legislators have begun asking questions about Yahoo's decision to outsource paid search advertising to Google, reports ClickZ.

Texas Republican Joe Barton sent Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang a letter expressing concerns that the deal will impact the competitive marketplace and the protection of user data.

The letter cites five-month-old documents showing Yahoo itself worried a deal with Google might create a monopoly.

Barton demanded written responses to his concerns, including which party made the first move, and a clear trajectory of how Yahoo progressed from wariness to willingness.

This week Yang traveled to Washington, DC to address legislators and lobby — informally — to save the deal.

Google began defending the liaison in May.