Google Inc. finalized a $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, the online ad services firm, shortly after the acquisition was approved by the European Commission. The U.S. government signed off on the deal in late 2007.
The purchase marks the end of a contentious period, during which a variety of interests protested the deal. Rivals claimed the acquisition would give Google unfair advantages, and privacy advocates claimed the combined tracking abilities of the two companies would lead to unwelcome amounts of information residing at Google.
In approving the merger, the European Commission indicated the focuses of the two companies were different enough that they could not be considered competitors, according to Reuters.
“We are thrilled that our acquisition of DoubleClick has closed,” said Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman and CEO, in a statement.
Schmidt continued, “With DoubleClick, Google now has the leading display ad platform, which will enable us to rapidly bring to market advances in technology and infrastructure that will dramatically improve the effectiveness, measurability and performance of digital media for publishers, advertisers and agencies, while improving the relevance of advertising for users.”