.svg) | |
| Nasdaq: DCLK | |
| Industry | Online advertising |
| Founded | February 1996; 29 years ago (1996-02) New York City |
| Founders | |
| Defunct | March 11, 2008 |
| Fate | Acquired byGoogle |
| Headquarters | New York City, U.S. |
| Products | DART family includes DFP (For Publishers), DFA (For (for Advertisers), DS (DART Search), Motif (Rich Media), DE (Enterprise), Sales Manager (Publisher), Media Visor (Advertisers), Adapt (Publishers), Doubleclick Advertising Exchange (Both Publishers & Advertisers) |
| Website | doubleclick.com at theWayback Machine (archived 2006-07-17) |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
DoubleClick Inc. was an American advertisement company that developed and provided Internetad serving services from 1995 until its acquisition byGoogle in March 2008. DoubleClick offered technology products and services that were sold primarily toadvertising agencies andmass media, serving businesses likeMicrosoft,General Motors,Coca-Cola,Motorola,L'Oréal,Palm, Inc.,Apple Inc.,Visa Inc.,Nike, Inc., andCarlsberg Group.[2] The company's main product line was known asDART (Dynamic Advertising, Reporting, and Targeting), which was intended to increase the purchasing efficiency of advertisers and minimize unsold inventory for publishers.
DoubleClick was founded in 1995 byKevin O'Connor andDwight Merriman and had headquarters inNew York City, United States. It was acquired byprivate equity firmsHellman & Friedman and JMI Equity in July 2005. On March 11, 2008, Google acquired DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. In June 2018, Google announced plans to rebrand its ads platforms, and DoubleClick was merged into the newGoogle Marketing Platform brand.[3] DoubleClick Bid Manager became Display and Video 360, DoubleClick Search became Search Ads 360, DoubleClick Campaign Manager became Campaign Manager 360 and DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) became Google Ad Manager 360.[4]
In 1995,Kevin O'Connor andDwight Merriman developed the concept for DoubleClick in O'Connor's basement. They created a system to displaybanner ads across a network of websites and track their performance to better target internet users.[5] The product caught the attention of entrepreneurKevin Ryan, who later joined as the company'sCFO and later became itsCEO.[5]
Later that year, O'Connor and Merriman met Fergus O'Daily, the CEO of Poppe Tyson. Poppe Tyson had created an Interactive Sales division, but lacked the technology to deliver online ads across its network of client's sites. O'Connor, Merriman, and O'Daily decided to merge the two companies.[6][7] To prevent competition from each company's sales teams, in November 1995 DoubleClick was spun off as an independent, wholly owned subsidiary.[8] DoubleClick was founded as one of the earliest knownApplication Service Providers (ASP) for internet "ad-serving"—primarily banner ads.[9]
In February 1998, during thedot-com bubble, the company became apublic company, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol DCLK, via aninitial public offering.[10][11] Shares rose 75% on the first day of trading.[12]
In June 1999, DoubleClick acquired Abacus Direct, which marketed consumer-purchasing data to catalog firms.[13][14]
In July 1999, DoubleClick acquired NetGravity and rebranded NetGravity AdServer asDART Enterprise.[15]
As of 2002, DoubleClick faced six lawsuits, including class-action lawsuits, related to invasions of privacy.[16] Privacy groups complained that DoubleClick's plan to combine its online profiling information with offline information gathered by Abacus Direct would violate privacy rules, including theStored Communications Act, theWiretap Statute, and theComputer Fraud and Abuse Act, as it would allow the company to match a person's identity with their online habits, which it tracks through cookies.[17] In February 2000, the FTC announced it had launched an investigation into the matter.[18] The investigation was concluded in January 2001, with the FTC stating that it found no evidence that DoubleClick used or disclosed consumers personal identifying information.[19][20] DoubleClick eventually entered into a settlement agreement where DoubleClick was required to explain its privacy policy in "easy-to-read" language; conduct a public information campaign consisting of 300 million banner ads inviting consumers to learn more about protecting their privacy; and institute data purging and opt-in procedures among other requirements.[21]
In 2004, DoubleClick acquired Performics, which offeredaffiliate marketing,search engine optimization, andsearch engine marketing products. These products were integrated into the core DART system and rebranded DART search. DoubleClick Advertising Exchange connected both media buyers and sellers on anadvertising exchange much like the financial negotiations of listed companies' capital stock. Google sold Performics in 2008 toPublicis.[22][23][24]
In April 2005,Hellman & Friedman, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, agreed to acquire the company for $1.1 billion.[25][26]
On April 13, 2007,Google agreed to acquire DoubleClick for US$3.1 billion in cash.[27][28][29] The deal raised concerns surrounding competition with both theFederal Trade Commission (FTC) and theEuropean Union. In May 2007, the FTC requested additional information about the deal after it was urged by competitors, includingMicrosoft, which believed it would give Google too much control over online advertising.[30][31][32] On December 20, 2007, the FTC approved Google's purchase of DoubleClick from its ownersHellman & Friedman and JMI Equity.[33]European Union regulators approved on March 11, 2008, and Google completed the acquisition later that day.[34] On April 2, 2008, Google announced it would cut 300 jobs at DoubleClick due to organizational redundancies. Selected employees would be matched within the Google organization as per position and experience.[35]
In November 2007, shortly after the announcement of the acquisition, it was reported that DoubleClick had been serving ads designed to trick users into buying malware. This occurred after a malicious website tricked several name-brand websites into serving the ads.[36]
In June 2010,Google confirmed its acquisition ofInvite Media, ademand-side platform, which it later renamed DoubleClick Bid Manager.[37]
On July 24, 2018, the names and logos of all DoubleClick products were updated, and DoubleClick Bid Manager is now Display & Video 360 (DV360).[38]
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