Well how much money does Google have? Definitely a lot. There latest acquisition is that of DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion! That is almost double the amount they shelled out for YouTube.
Microsoft was reportedly in a bidding war with Google for DoubleClick. Google will get access to DoubleClick’s extensive network and the advertising software might be a strategic move to strengthen Google Analytics.
With over 1500 clients, DoubleClick is the preferred partner of leading companies worldwide for a full range of digital advertising solutions.
This move by Google makes it clear that they want to keep Microsoft out of their domain, especially that in Digital Advertising.
AdSense / AdWords currently command massive customers and publishers and is a definite favourite with most bloggers.
Update: Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick is definitely great for their Indian operations, since DoubleClick is quite popular in India (320 Alexa rank in India) and used by most interactive agencies here. This is a nice strategic move for international operations.
NYTimes reports: DoubleClick, which was founded in 1996, provides display ads on Web sites like MySpace, The Wall Street Journal and America Online as well as software to help those sites maximize ad revenue. The company also helps ad buyers — advertisers and ad agencies — manage and measure the effectiveness of their rich media, search and other online ads.
DoubleClick has also recently introduced a Nasdaq-like exchange for online ads that analysts say could be lucrative for Google.
“Google really wants to get into the display advertising business in a big way, and they don’t have the relationships they need to make it happen,” said Dave Morgan, the chairman of Tacoda, an online advertising network. “But DoubleClick does. It gives them immediate access to those relationships.”
A highflying stock in the late 1990s, DoubleClick was an early pioneer in online advertising and was one of the few online ad companies to survive the burst of the dot.com bubble. In 2005, DoubleClick was taken private by two private equity firms, Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity, in a deal valued at $1.1 billion. Since then, the company has sold two data and e-mail advertising businesses and acquired Klipmart, which specializes in online video.
Update:
The next step in Google Advertising –
I think its a brilliant acquisition from Google’s POV. I am not saying this because DoubleClick has any gr8 technology that will help Google…
1. DoubleClick has longstanding relations with many publishers, advertisers and agencies. Yes some publishers (read Yahoo, MSN) may want to abandon DFP now as its not so third party
2. Doubleclick has great amounts of web usage and advertising data that Google can leverage from in several ways… Google Adwords publisher deals, CPC pricing, behavioral targeting…
3. They can give Publishers the choice to automatically monetise unsold inventory through Adwords network
4. 2 yrs back Google bought Urchin… bettered it, integrated it and offered Google Analytics free… Now its time for Google Adserving (Free?) – It may take some time but some integratation is sure to happen.
- It will make Trafficking much simpler
- Better conversion tracking and media optimisation
- Advanced Reporting
Eric Schmidt (Chairman and CEO of Google) was recently quoted in a Wired interview as saying, consumers should “think of it first as an advertising system.” … its a big step in that direction