That’s because Google’s plans to buy video compression outfit On2 have been held up by disgruntled shareholders. And the company’s plans to spend $750 million on AdMob, the mobile ad start-up, can’t go through until federal regulators sign off.

That may take a little longer than Google (GOOG) would like. The company announced today that the Federal Trade Commission has asked for more information–formally, a “second request”–as part of its review. From a post on Google’s Public Policy Blog:

…we know that closer scrutiny has been one consequence of Google’s success, and we’ve been talking to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over the past few weeks. This week we received what’s called a “second request,” which means that the FTC is asking for more information so that they can continue to review the deal.

While this means we won’t be closing right away, we’re confident that the FTC will conclude that the rapidly growing mobile advertising space will remain highly competitive after this deal closes. And we’ll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review.

Google was well aware that it was going to face regulatory scrutiny on this deal; in fact, CEO Eric Schmidt says the company assumes regulators will now look at every big deal it makes, simply because it’s Google.

And also because Google’s competitors are doing their best to make sure there is regulatory scrutiny. Microsoft (MSFT), which knows a thing or two about regulatory headaches, helped slow down Google’s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick for a very long time. And it’s quite clear that Redmond intends to holler loudly in Washington about other deals. Googlers tell me they also believe AT&T (T) agitates against them.

I’ve tried getting Googlers to guess at how long they think the AdMob deal will take to clear, but they’ve been pretty reluctant to do so. “I thought DoubleClick would take a few months, and it took more than a year,” one would-be bettor told me recently. “I’m not making that mistake again.”

Although it is not a particular surprise, because Microsoft and Yahoo execs had previously said they expected as much, the Justice Department lobbed in a “second request” for information about the search and online advertising partnership the pair struck earlier this summer.

A Microsoft spokesman confirmed the request to BoomTown.

“As expected Microsoft and Yahoo received an additional request about the agreement, as we said when this agreement was announced,” said Microsoft’s Jack Evans. “We anticipated this deal would be closely reviewed and we continue to be hopeful that it will be approved by early 2010.”

Simply put, the Justice Department wants more information about the 10-year deal and will do more investigation before approving it–or not.

This kind of review is typical in deals of this magnitude, although it is unlikely to be as fraught as Yahoo’s attempt last year to form a similar partnership with Google.

That deal collapsed after regulators indicated that they would oppose the arrangement, which caused Google to pull out.

At the time the partnership was announced in July, execs at both Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo (YHOO) said a lot of scrutiny was likely from Justice, although they were also confident that it would go through.

And, indeed, there seem to be no major objections from publishers and advertisers, as was the case with Yahoogle, even though a privacy group has raised some concerns.

Even Google (GOOG) has been unusually quiet about the deal, perhaps because its nearly 70 percent of the search market makes it the behemoth. Together, Yahoo and Microsoft have close to a 30 percent market share.

The deal must also be approved by European regulators, according to the terms negotiated by Yahoo and Microsoft. But since Google’s share there is even higher, roadblocks seem unlikely.

Meanwhile, according to numerous sources, Microsoft and Yahoo are separately working on transition plans in order to move quickly once it gains regulatory approval.

While they cannot work together as yet at a detailed level, Microsoft will eventually be absorbing hundreds of Yahoo search engineers as part of the deal.

So as we all wait in breathless anticipation, enjoy this hysterical video version of the famous gruel scene in the movie, “Oliver,” with the lines speeded up and then slowed down:

Almost, but not quite.

The 30-day review period for the $7.4 billion deal was set to expire midnight Friday. But instead of approving it, the DOJ extended its examination, issuing a second request for more information. Seems the government has some questions about Java and the way in which it is licensed.

In a statement released late Friday, Daniel Wall, a lawyer at Latham & Watkin, the firm representing Oracle, said that “we were almost able to resolve everything before the Second Request deadline. All that’s left is one narrow issue about the way rights to Java are licensed that is never going to get in the way of the deal.”

Never going to get in the way of the deal?

Well, it already has, hasn’t it? And while Oracle insists the extension of the investigation won’t delay the closing of the deal this summer, this additional 11th-hour scrutiny of Java isn’t exactly encouraging. After all, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has said that Java is “the single most important software asset we have ever acquired.”

Almost, but not quite.

The 30-day review period for the $7.4 billion deal was set to expire midnight Friday. But instead of approving it, the DOJ extended its examination, issuing a second request for more information. Seems the government has some questions about Java and the way in which it is licensed.

In a statement released late Friday, Daniel Wall, a lawyer at Latham & Watkin, the firm representing Oracle, said that “we were almost able to resolve everything before the Second Request deadline. All that’s left is one narrow issue about the way rights to Java are licensed that is never going to get in the way of the deal.”

Never going to get in the way of the deal?

Well, it already has, hasn’t it? And while Oracle insists the extension of the investigation won’t delay the closing of the deal this summer, this additional 11th-hour scrutiny of Java isn’t exactly encouraging. After all, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has said that Java is “the single most important software asset we have ever acquired.”