addi+ions blog: Insights from the Internet Obsessed

You would think industry news coming across the wire on a Friday afternoon would be quiet allowing you to finish up your work and get out on time to enjoy the weekend. Usually that’s the case anyway although last Friday was anything but.

At first I didn’t understand the magnitude of the news but I could hear coworkers murmuring something about Google. Google launches something it seems every week now so I really was not expecting anything as big as it was. Wasn’t it last week they launched My Maps and something called Gmail Paper? Then I heard the word DoubleClick and my interest perked, as I more intently listened to the conversation across the office. When I heard the words $3.1 billion cash I knew I would not be going home as soon as I thought and I jumped back online to start reading for myself.

Why Google is interested in DoubleClick

After reading a few accounts of the story I started to put my own list together of why Google shelled out its second multibillion dollar acquisition in only 6 months.

• Google has lead the industry in search and search based advertising but has struggled to break into other advertising areas both online and off
• Google has been introducing new advertising opportunities like print, radio and TV but there has been very slow adoption
• Google has a prosperous display business in its AdSense network, it has struggled to attract brand advertisers because it doesn’t accept third-party ad serving
• DoubleClick’s 290 billion monthly impressions across its network is far and away the industry leader in display (including rich media -which is unavailable on the Adsense network)
• The merge of companies and advertising solutions means streamlining the ability to buy an integrated search and display campaign through Google, simplifying lives of online marketing agencies
• Oh, and Microsoft was rumored to be interested in buying DoubleClick as well

Ensuring the Future of Big G

What it means for Google: At the end of the day the DoubleClick purchase ensures their future as a, if not not the leader in online advertising. What it means for eveyone else is that we are now in a situation where if you want to advertise online (search, or display) you will ultimately have to do it through Google.