Google DoubleClicks on ad service buyout

12 March 2008

Google has completed its purchase of ad-serving company Double-Click, after European regulators gave the $3.1 billion deal the go-ahead.

The acquisition was originally announced last April, when Google said that the combination of the two firms would increase the relevancy and accuracy of adverts for users, and allow webmasters to manage search and display advertising campaigns through a common interface.

Search rivals Microsoft and Yahoo both raised objections to the deal, but it was approved by US regulators in December 2007.

European Commission approval was required before the buyout could go ahead, and the Commission had been expected to rule on 2 April. However, yesterday it announced that the acquisition "would be unlikely to have harmful effects on consumers, either in ad serving or in intermediation in online advertising markets".

It continued: "The Commission found that the merged entity would not have the ability to engage in strategies aimed at marginalising Google's competitors, mainly because of the presence of credible ad serving alternatives... in particular vertically integrated companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL."

Writing on the Google blog, CEO Eric Schmidt said: "Because user trust is paramount to the success of our business, users will continue to benefit from our commitment to protecting user privacy following this acquisition.

"We believe that by combining our advertising network with DoubleClick's display ad serving products, and by investing resources in the display ad business, we will be able to help publishers and advertisers generate more revenue. That in turn will fuel the creation of even more rich and diverse content for Internet users everywhere."

Category: Google, MSN, Online marketing, Search engines, Yahoo