TechFold - Bold tech & web commentary

Facebook Acquisition - Round X; I bet Google

I call Google FTW. The internets are all atwitter that facebook is on the block again - the Guardian says Yahoo is at it again; Battelle speculates that GOOG might snipe it like they did with DoubleClick.

Personally, I’ve thought Google is the more likely candidate for a while. Despite their occaisonal dropped balls on acquisitions (dodgeball), Google is about two things: platform and volume, which feed off each other and together are monetizeable. Advertising? Google built the platform. Search? Same. Video? Yup. Any area of online tech that you look into, Google has a major foundational play under way - if not a platform in a traditional sense, then a product option that has so much market power that it is the defacto platform or standard in its space.

Except social networking. Orkut, however you slice it, is an abject failure. Facebook would fill that gap, and the Facebook platform philosophy works nicely with Google. Google and Facebook could exchange hooks, interfaces, and API’s very quickly and create integrated products that deliver real value FAST.

Final note - I remember comments from GOOG’s CEO from a few weeks ago to the effect that Google wants to be able to tell you what you should be doing for the weekend. THAT’S A SOCIAL FEATURE.

So - when all is said and done, I call Google for the buy, Yahoo for the runner up. The only thing to derail this would be the SEC.

billions, dodgeball, facebook, GOOG, google, microsoft, orkut, sec, social, socialnetworking, weekend, yahoo YHOO

Share This

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Google Buys DoubleClick: 3.1 Billion

Wow - Google has snapped up DoubleClick from under Microsoft for 3.1 billion, reports the New York Times. Implications:

1. More Inventory for Google on MySpace, and elsewhere
2. Established relationships with advertisers, site publishers, and ad agencies that do big media buys
3. Various software components, from ad-serving, to an ad-unit “exchange”
4. Keeping DoubleClick out of Microsoft’s hands: Priceless

NYT wonders how Google will avoid channel conflict/conflict of interest with its other advertising channels. I’m very curious as to how this will fit into Google’s product shelf - perhaps doubleclick will be positioned as a “pro” product vs. regular adsense?

Interesting also that Friday afternoon was chosen to announce this. Talk about hype killer. Does Google’s relatively flat stock of late incorporate the probability of this news or is it going to jump?

[from SearchEngineLand]

acquisition, advertising, billions, doubleclick, google microsoft

Share This

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!