Right off the bat, the acquisition extends Google’s lead over Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo! Inc. in the $28.8 billion online advertising market, and reflects its ambition to be a stronger competitor in sales of so-called display ads.
Numerous adult companies rely on Google to help market their sites.
With DoubleClick, Google vastly expands its web display advertising business, which includes richer graphic and online banner ads for corporate brands, and represents half of all online marketing. Until now, display advertising has been dominated by rival Yahoo! Inc.
“This may prove to be a pivotal step for Google in its quest to create something of an operating system for the entire advertising industry,” Derek Brown, an analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald, said in a research note.
Both Yahoo and Microsoft had bid for DoubleClick, while Time Warner Inc.’s AOL online unit had considered a bid earlier in the process, sources have said.
Yahoo, like Microsoft, has deep pockets for an acquisition but some analysts also say Yahoo has fortified its advertising capabilities with a new ad system known as Project Panama.