NYT: Google Buys DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion

Google reached an agreement today to acquire DoubleClick, the online advertising company, from two private equity firms for $3.1 billion in cash, the companies announced, an amount that was almost double the $1.65 billion in stock that Google paid for YouTube late last year.

Yahoo Biz: Google to Acquire DoubleClick

Combination Will Significantly Expand Opportunities for Advertisers, Agencies and Publishers and Improve Users’ Online Experience. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG - News) announced today a definitive agreement to acquire DoubleClick Inc., a global leader in digital marketing technology and services, for $3.1 billion in cash from San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management. The acquisition will combine DoubleClick’s expertise in ad management technology for media buyers and sellers with Google’s leading advertising platform and publisher monetization services.

GoogleBlog: The next step in Google advertising

At Google, we are constantly looking for new, innovative ways to make the information you want more accessible and more relevant—and to deliver it as fast as possible. Since Google’s inception, it has always been our intention to present users with highly targeted, useful advertisements when appropriate—ads that unobtrusively complement users experience. We have always believed in, and tirelessly pursued, the idea that serving relevant, unintrusive ads would best serve our advertisers in the long term.

Mashable: Google buys DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion, Microsoft Screwed

Congrats to the NYTimes for scooping the story that Google is proceeding with its rumored acquisition of ad network DoubleClick. The price was $3.1 billion, making this by far Google’s biggest acquisition to date - the YouTube buy looks small by comparison. Also note that this was in cash, while the YouTube deal was stock. It’s a major, major loss for Microsoft, which is now going to fall even further behind in the ad game at a time when software and “old media” content is moving online in ad-supported form.

TC: Breaking: Google Spends $3.1 Billion To Acquire DoubleClick

About 20 minutes ago Google announced that they have agreed to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in cash (nearly double the size of their YouTube Acquisition). Microsoft was reportedly in a bidding war with Google for the company. Google gets access to DoubleClickРІР‚в„ўs advertising software and, perhaps more importantly, their customers and network.

Micropersuasion: Google and Doubleclick: All Your Ads Belong to Us

John Battelle started a meme a couple of years ago when referring to Google’s appetite for information: “All your [insert noun here] belong to us.” That’s the phrase that immediately came to mind when I read that they purchased DoubleClick today for $3.1B. For more, see Google’s blog post. When you think about it, Google may now manage an entire company’s online ad buy, even if the ad dollars go to other media properties, which they will. It’s almost like you can hear Google saying “All your ads, belong to us.”