Is DoubleClick Clicking for Google?
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(Corrects the description of DoubleClick's use of behavioral advertising prior to being acquired by Google.)
Three years ago, Google (GOOG) closed its biggest acquisition ever: The $3.1 billion purchase of online ad powerhouse DoubleClick. Google's goal was to grow beyond search advertising, where it was already dominant, and grab a chunk of the potentially much larger market for display ads—those graphical come-ons that appear along the tops and sides of Web pages. Within two months of the deal, Google's stock soared 35 percent, to $595.