In order to conduct a more elaborate assessment of the proposed Internet-search partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo, the US Department of Justice has sought some additional details pertaining to the agreement.

Though Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans refused to divulge on the contents of the request made by the Justice Department, he did say that Microsoft had already envisaged an exhaustive appraisal of the July-announced accord, which proposes to establish Microsoft as the exclusive search provider for Yahoo's Web pages, with the companies to split the ad revenue.

The Justice Department, which can also question Microsoft and Yahoo about their search-engine investments, ad pricing and product plans, has likely sought more details to examine two different aspects of the deal - firstly, whether the loss of one channel will adversely affect advertisers; and secondly, whether the deal would lower Google's drive to compete for searchers.

Meanwhile, noting that the Justice Department request for more details is largely a reflexive action, Matthew Cantor, an antitrust lawyer with New York's Constantine Cannon, elaborated that with two of three companies in the Internet search market deciding to join forces, an extensive scrutiny is more than expected.

Commenting on the Microsoft-Yahoo agreement, Cantor remarked: "This deal is going to eliminate a competitor in search in a market that has high barriers to entry and only has three players."