Google buys web ad network for $3.1bn
Posted 16 April 2007 at 6:18PM by Simon Dickson in Doing business online
Big news over the weekend was Google's move to consolidate its position in the world of online advertising, spending $3.1 billion (or £1.6bn) in cash on long-established web advertising network DoubleClick.
Statements posted on various Google websites, including on the company blog, describe the move as bringing together the worlds of search and display advertising; they promise 'less intrusive ads and better privacy protection' for users, 'greater accountability and effectiveness' for advertisers, and 'improved monetization and cleaner site integration' for publishers.
'We will continue to support DoubleClick's existing products and innovate together to develop more advanced versions of their current services to customers,' said a company statement. 'We believe we can make their existing model perform better for advertisers and publishers, increasing productivity and profitability while delivering more relevant and more targeted ads to users.'
And who would bet against them? Google's Adwords service redefined online advertising, making it practical and affordable for businesses of all sizes. And somehow, they managed to make adverts both less intrusive and more effective at the same time.
Bad news for existing DoubleClick clients though: there are no plans to do the typical Google thing of offering the newly acquired services free of charge. 'They have proven to be a successful business,' said Google, 'and we don't have immediate plans to change their business model.'
Tags: advertising, adwords, doubleclick, google
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