Microsoft wants ad company DoubleClick? DoubleClick: Er, thanks but no thanks?

There were rumors that Microsoft wanted to purchase online ad company DoubleClick. Now, the conclusion of this story is that instead it was another giant – Google – that bought DoubleClick. But adding fuel to the MS-wants-another-ad-company rumor is a report from Google watcher John Battelle who mentions that not only did Microsoft want to buy DoubleClick, they

• made the better offer,
• was nevertheless turned down by DoubleClick, and
• are thoroughly pissed about it.

Which might kind of explains why Redmond, along with Yahoo and AT&T, are calling on the government to investigate the Google-DoubleClick Deal. Battelle claims this from “an interesting call with Brad Smith, the general counsel of Microsoft,” who claims that Google will now be in a position to dominate the online ad market, as well as other anonymous sources who say that Microsoft was making an offer better than Google’s US$ 3.11 billion.

Both sources, we observe, would be at odds with each other from this perspective. Smith explained to Battelle that companies shouldn’t “buy their way” to market dominance – so why the whispers about Microsoft pitching an even more tantalizing bid for DoubleClick? Hey, don’t they already have Massive? What plans do they have with online advertising if they wanted DoubleClick that badly?

From the word he’s received, Battelle concluded that the DoubleClick investors simply chose Google over whatever Microsoft was willing to give – and Microsoft was willing to give much, he concludes. “The more I think about it, the more the fact that DBCLK went to Google strikes me as a seminal moment in the history of this industry. Microsoft could not win it, despite the cash it was willing to spend. Why?!”

There were rumors that Microsoft wanted to purchase online ad company DoubleClick. Now, the conclusion of this story is that instead it was another giant – Google – that bought DoubleClick. But adding fuel to the MS-wants-another-ad-company rumor is a report from Google watcher John Battelle who mentions that not only did Microsoft want to buy DoubleClick, they

• made the better offer,
• was nevertheless turned down by DoubleClick, and
• are thoroughly pissed about it.

Which might kind of explains why Redmond, along with Yahoo and AT&T, are calling on the government to investigate the Google-DoubleClick Deal. Battelle claims this from “an interesting call with Brad Smith, the general counsel of Microsoft,” who claims that Google will now be in a position to dominate the online ad market, as well as other anonymous sources who say that Microsoft was making an offer better than Google’s US$ 3.11 billion.

Both sources, we observe, would be at odds with each other from this perspective. Smith explained to Battelle that companies shouldn’t “buy their way” to market dominance – so why the whispers about Microsoft pitching an even more tantalizing bid for DoubleClick? Hey, don’t they already have Massive? What plans do they have with online advertising if they wanted DoubleClick that badly?

From the word he’s received, Battelle concluded that the DoubleClick investors simply chose Google over whatever Microsoft was willing to give – and Microsoft was willing to give much, he concludes. “The more I think about it, the more the fact that DBCLK went to Google strikes me as a seminal moment in the history of this industry. Microsoft could not win it, despite the cash it was willing to spend. Why?!”