Microsoft worries regulators will question Yahoo! search deal

At first blush, it looks as if the Microsoft (MSFT) search partnership with Yahoo! (YHOO) should clear any regulatory hurdles. Certainly the government would look at Google's (GOOG) 65 percent market share of the American market and find no objection to two firms combining efforts to create an entity with less than 30 percent share.

However, Microsoft's top lawyer is not so sure. General counsel Brad Smith told Reuters he is not terribly certain that the deal will make it through the government review process.