GoogleClick to Rock Online Ad World

Talk about a disruptive move: Google buys DoubleClick for $3.1-billion after a bidding war with Microsoft.  Without being too dramatic, the online advertising market as we know it is now an entirely different beast. Strategically, it’s a great move for Google, which has been arguably dabbling on the edges of the advertising market as it scrambles to find another horse other than AdSense. Look at the modest moves Google has so far made in the print, television and radio markets, which come across as dabbling as opposed to bold strategic forays. The biggest challenge facing GoogleClick is avoiding a conflict of interest given DoubleClick does business with of the Web’s largest advertisers such as AOL, who will be watching closely to see if Google favours its own ad activities.

Note: There’s no lack of comment on the blogosphere but if you want to wade it, check out Mathew Ingram, who notes the happiness of the private equity investors who bought DoubleClick in 2005 for $1.1-billion. Howard Linzon also points GoogleClick deal should also be good news for rival ValueClick, which closed just below its 52-week high of $29.75 yesterday (Its market cap it $2.9-billion)