The irony of on-line advertising algorithms

Sometimes the irony of on-line advertising algorithms is made evident.  How about this article in the New York Times--focused on the adverse impacts of hospital mergers--being tagged with an ad from Partners Healthcare System!  ("We're rethinking health care," says the corporation.  Are we convinced?)

Mores seriously, this article explains why Partners needed the buy-in from the Massachusetts Attorney General in the recently filed settlement of its anti-trust case: "State action" precludes a more thorough federal involvement.  But the real question is why the federal government agreed to defer to the state in the first place, as opposed to pursing an FTC and/or DOJ case:  Was this a favor from the Obama administration to their preferred Democratic candidate?