Google pays $3.1 billion for DoubleClick
That $1.65 billion Google paid for YouTube last year? That was chump change.The big G has finished negotiations to buy online advertising giant DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. This will give Google a major foothold in visual advertising online. Google makes most of its money currently from relevant text advertising.
Microsoft and Google had been engaged in a bidding war over DoubleClick. While it'll take a lot of advertising revenue to make up for the largest purchase in Google's history, you can't put a price on beating Microsoft in the race for web dominance.
Microsoft had been trying to catch up to Google in the online advertising business, and DoubleClick is one heck of a chess piece. If Microsoft had won, the company would have immediately become a serious contender. With Google winning the bid, it'll be that much harder for Microsoft to get a strong foothold in the online advertising market.
An interesting sidenote: Doubleclick made $300 million in revenue last year. Either Google has really big plans for the company and its technologies, or this is a long term investment. Or both.
[via The New York Times]
