Google's proposal to acquire DoubleClick received the EU's approval yesterday and Google closed out the acquisition of DoubleClick yesterday. They now officially own DoubleClick and all that comes with it.
A WebmasterWorld thread has discussion about the acquisition. Most in the thread are of the feeling that this gives Google an unfair advantage. But the government backed groups in the States and Europe both decided it does not give Google that unfair advantage. Here are some quotes from the thread:
LMAO - good to see the eurocrats still have no idea...They are spineless - yet another example of fat wages for a useless quasi-ruling 'body'
So much for the Internet being independent.
Got to love forums and what people have to say in them.
Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land feels Google should divest themselves of Performics, an SEM company owned by DoubleClick. Why? "Conflict of interest," to the utmost.
But doesn't Yahoo have internal SEO staff? What about Microsoft? Yes, they both do - but Yahoo and Microsoft are content companies with larger stake in publishing, e-commerce and other online business (including lead generation and affiliate marketing). In fact, both Yahoo and Microsoft had most of these businesses going prior to building out core web search teams. Google, well - they keep telling us they are a search company and nothing more. If so, yes, this is a conflict of interest.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
