U.S. approves AT&T buy of ad technology firm Ingenio

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust authorities have approved telephone company AT&T's (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research) purchase of the advertising technology firm Ingenio, the Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday.

The FTC included the deal on a list of approved mergers that it releases periodically. AT&T announced the deal last month without disclosing the terms.

AT&T Inc bought Ingenio to boost its directories business and compete more directly with Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research). Ingenio's technology, called "pay per call," allows companies to post online advertisements and pay fees depending on how many phone calls they receive.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Andre Grenon)