On Thursday, April 12, 2007, SYS-CON's SEO/SEM Journal News Desk reported a story entitled "Is Google Buying DoubeClick?" Today, on Saturday, April 14, 2007, Google's DoubleClick acquisition news crossed the wires.

We reported in our original story: "Google, which is reportedly building its own DoubleClick-like ad-serving mechanism, is now supposed to be trying to buy DoubleClick since Microsoft was reported to be in talks with the online media buyer. The competition is supposed to make any deal more expensive. Last week they were already talking about the price for the $100 million-$150 million business being an exorbitant $2 billion. The Wall Street Journal, which originally broke the story, says Yahoo and AOL, one of DoubleClick's biggest accounts, have also kicked the tires. DoubleClick's alternative to a sale is to IPO."

Today's announcement said "Google Inc. announced today a definitive agreement to acquire DoubleClick Inc., a global leader in digital marketing technology and services, for US$3.1 billion in cash from San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management." This was a price tag $1 billion more than our wildest guestimate on Thursday.

"When we acquired DoubleClick in July 2005, we saw an opportunity to partner with a great management team to further enhance the company's capabilities and growth trajectory," said Philip Hammarskjold, Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman. "This transaction affirms the successful transformation of DoubleClick, positions the firm for the future, and greatly benefits our investors."

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