GoogleClick: Execs Explain $3.1 Billion Deal
Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt and DoubleClick CEO David Rosenblatt were those among those on a conference call (full audio for streaming and download below), explaining the $3.1 billion acquisition to investors and journalists. Schmidt’s brief opening remarks highlighted the perceived value of using one console for search and displayed and promised more innovations. He also talked about privacy—“We at Google are very committed to preserving people’s privacy; DoubleClick will help us do that.”—and user benefits from more targeted ads. The call quickly moved to q-and-a. Some running highlights:
Too much power for Google?: Schmidt : There are many choices. “Among the choices this was the best fit. We don’t see the concern you raised as one we’re very worried about.”
Why this much and why in cash?: Schmidt: “We felt we could afford the price and it’s a very good deal for google and our shareholders.”
Why DoubleClick?: Schmidt and others mentioned the two have been partners for a long time and there’s a lot of overlap on advertisers. Schmidt also said that display had taken on more importance in the past year.
Ad Exchange: DoubleClick just launched its Ad Exchange—It’s a little early to comment on it.
Integration: Asked about handling the complex integration, Rosenblatt said “integrations go a lot more smoothly when there’s a shared vision.” The two are in the same NYC building and a number of people at each company have worked at the other.”
Importance of display ads: When I asked why display advertising had taken on greater importance in the last year, Sergey Brin said, “We’ve though display advertising has been important for several years.” He mentioned several Google efforts in display but—to paraphrase—nothing on the scale of DoubleClick. He said “we’ve had a lot to keep us busy in search and search advertising” ... that remains important but “we can now afford” to give more attention to display.
The call ran about 30-35 minutes with Schmidt acknowledging the brief time between announcement and call. They wanted to get it out as soon as it was approved by the board and signed, he said. Of course, that allows Google to better control the message than if it continued to seep out over the next few days. I’ll have more from the call as I go through my notes.
You can stream the audio of the conference call below, or download the MP3 from here.
Posted In: Advertising, Companies, Google
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Comments (6)
Apr 13, 2007 11:45 PM
I think you mean YAHOO! (not Google) top Ad Exec Sue Decker.
Apr 14, 2007 2:42 AM
Good catch Chris—I read that and started wondering if Sue Decker had switched companies. Glad to know I haven’t lost my mind completely. Hasn’t Sue taken on a bigger role with Yahoo now?
Apr 14, 2007 11:23 AM
>> We at Google are very committed to preserving people’s privacy; DoubleClick will help us do that. <<
Right. DoubleClick will help protect my privacy. DoubleClick who wants to know what I click on all over the internet, the better to market stuff to me that I have never wanted and do not want and will not want. Here’s a clue: today I’m clicking on news about this acquisition. Next I will click on blogs covering what the impact of this acquisition will be on people’s privacy. By Monday I might just go back to only using the local newspaper for news. Then at least when I take the paper out to the recycle box, I can be pretty sure it won’t follow me back in the house to watch what kind of tea I take out of the cupboard.
It’s not that I don’t appreciate the wonderful search engine offered by Google. It’s that I loathe DoubleClick. I will switch search engines in a heartbeat. I had already switched browsers to have more control over what gets written to and read from my computers. I am willing to switch browsers and take awhile to discover what their particular strengths and weaknesses are. Vive le free market, baby, and sayonara Google.
Apr 14, 2007 12:50 PM
Nope, she hasn’t moved but the mistake was fixed as soon as Chris posted the comment. Had Sue on the brain where another story was concerned. Sorry for the error and thanks for reading so closely—and for letting me know. Staci
Apr 14, 2007 1:12 PM
Love your work but I noticed a lot of typos in yesterday’s posts about the doubleclick deal. I understand the need to move quickly, but can’t someone at least read over the posts before (or immediately after) they go live? Even this headline has a typo in it.
Apr 14, 2007 4:10 PM
Dan—
I appreciate that. One reason why I put the “work in progress” sign up while doing a live story is for just that reason—to let people know it isn’t finished. I’m not sure what happened with the headline—my guess I hit backspace and didn’t realize a letter was missing—but we do try to make sure fixes are made as quickly as possible, as was the case here.
Thanks again.
Staci