AP News, May 18th, 2007
Recent major deals in the online advertising space:
_ Google Inc., the Internet search leader, kick started the dealmaking on April 13, when it agreed to pay $3.1 billion in cash to acquire ad-management technology company DoubleClick Inc. Google already makes money selling small, text-based ads linked to search terms, but DoubleClick expands its ability to deliver multimedia display ads.
_ Yahoo Inc., the No. 2 search provider, followed two weeks later by snapping up for $680 million the 80 percent of Right Media Inc. it did not already own. That gave Yahoo an exchange designed to make it easier for Web publishers to show what they have to sell to online advertisers. Right Media also specializes in the display ads that Google found so attractive about DoubleClick.
_ WPP Group PLC, the world's second-largest advertising and marketing conglomerate, agreed on Thursday to buy 24/7 Real Media Inc. for $649 million. The move underscored that traditional ad agencies think it is easier to access the online ad market by acquiring an established company than starting from scratch.
_ Microsoft Corp. on Friday made a $6 billion bid for online advertising firm aQuantive Inc. The world's largest software company estimates the burgeoning online ad market at $40 billion a year, partly explaining its willingness to pay an 85 percent premium for aQuantive. The more pressing reason, perhaps, was that the Redmond, Wash., company had few chances left to bolster its online ad capabilities through acquisition after the consolidation frenzy wiped out nearly all major independent players.
