Google Acquires DoubleClick

I recently read in the Wall Street Journal that Google had acquired the firm DoubleClick for $3.1 billion dollars. Having read this I was interested in seeing what any of the required blogs had to say about it. I found such an article on click Z. The purchase of DoubleClick was the biggest in Google's history and signaled a huge consolidation of power in the online marketing industry, combining the largest search engine with an original and still biggest ad management firm. Sources have sited a large factor inhibiting Google's growth has been its reluctance to work with third party ad servers, electing to keep advertising tracking and reporting in-house. With the DoubleClick acquisition Google will overcome this barrier and will have the necessary technology to manage accounts more effectively. Theoretically the advertising community should benefit from the consolidation which will improve service for both Google and DoubleClick's customers.

The deal is not without scrutiny though. Both Microsoft, who had been in talks with DoubleClick prior to Google, and Time Warner are urging the US government to apply antitrust legislation to the deal. With Google's 60% share in Internet search and DoubleClick's high market share in advertising, the threat of monopolistic behavior is present. While the outcry from Microsoft may be a result of its not-so-long-ago antitrust court case, it is becoming evident that as Google grows it is doing so under greater scrutiny.