Google to sell part of DoubleClick for deal

Google today said it will sell off the search marketing portion of DoubleClick to ensure that its takeover bid goes through. Called Performics, the division is being split off by the search engine giant to convince users that the ads accompanying search results won't be influenced by a conflict of interest. Advertisers will need to know that Google is objective and won't bias the ads it displays towards any one advertiser, according to DoubleClick's Tom Phillips.

The sell-off is considered more a friendly gesture than essential to the $3.4 billion acquisition, as both the European Union and the US-based Federal Trade Commission have both approved the buyout of DoubleClick in its existing state.

Most opposition to the deal has come from Microsoft, which has argued that it would create an advertising network monopoly. The company has since bought rival ad producer aQuantive and planned to buy Yahoo in a hostile move that would further help it improve ad share relative to Google's AdSense and AdWords systems.

Filed under: industry
Other story tags: Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, aQuantive, DoubleClick