14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just upped the stakes in its face-off with Google and is crying foul play over the Mountain View-based search giant's acquisition of DoubleClick. The Redmond Company was outbid by Google for DoubleClick, the company that gave birth to the web advertising industry. In a deal that is expected to be finalized by the end of 2007, Google will pay no less than $3.1 billion to private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for DoubleClick. Microsoft was also interested in the acquisition, but according to reports, it only went as high as $2 billion.
Don Dodge, director of business development with Microsoft's Emerging Business Team, revealed that Google overbid in an effort to remain the top online advertising powerhouse: "DoubleClick was a publicly traded company two years ago and valued at less than $1 billion. Anyone could have acquired DoubleClick, but a private equity firm took them private less than two years ago for $1.1 billion. They later sold off two divisions for $525 million. Yesterday Google paid $3.1 billion for what remained of DoubleClick. Why did Google wait two years and pay billions more?"
Moreover, Microsoft claimed to be genuinely concerned over the legitimacy of the deal. Microsoft's Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Brad Smith, made a statement on behalf of the Redmond Company concerning the DoubleClick acquisition by Google.
"This proposed acquisition raises serious competition and privacy concerns in that it gives the Google DoubleClick combination unprecedented control in the delivery of online advertising," Smith said, "and access to a huge amount of consumer information by tracking what customers do online. We think this merger deserves close scrutiny from regulatory authorities to ensure a competitive online advertising market."