Google has agreed to pay $3.1 bn cash for the computer-tracking cookie provider Double Click, the biggest buyout in Google’s history.
The purchase is a big blow to Microsoft which began bidding for the company in March for around $2 bn. Microsoft has struggled to catch up to Google in the advertising market and chances are , will continue to do so after this buyout. Yahoo and Time Warner were also in race of this bidding.
What is DoubleClick?
New York based DoubleClick has been majority owned by a private equity firm Hellman & Friedman since 2005, when they paid around $1.1 bn for its stake. DoubleClick helps link up advertising agencies, marketers and web publishers to put ads online, very similar to Google Adwords and Google Adsense. DoubleClick generated $300 mn in revenue last year.
Google co-founder and president Sergey Brin says
“It has been our vision to make internet advertising better - less intrusive, more effective, and more useful,” “Together with Doubleclick, Google will make the internet more efficient for end users, advertisers, and publishers.”
Google is enlarging its AdSense online network beyond text-based ads as well as testing the waters of television, radio and newspapers. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Google was in talks with satellite TV broadcaster DirecTV over an advertising deal.
Many observers on the internet seeing it as defensive strategy of Google thrawting Microsoft from acquiring DoubleClick. Microsoft urges review of this deal. Here is the Microsoft’s statement
“This proposed acquisition raises serious competition and privacy concerns in that it gives the Google DoubleClick combination unprecedented control in the delivery of online advertising, and access to a huge amount of consumer information by tracking what customers do online. We think this merger deserves close scrutiny from regulatory authorities to ensure a competitive online advertising market.”