Google has now joined the race to buy the ad-serving firm DoubleClick, potentially leading to a fierce bidding war against Microsoft that could boost the final price of DoubleClick to more than $2 billion, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The entry of Google, which has a history of winning almost everything it bids for, makes it less likely that Microsoft will be the winning bidder, though it is possible that Microsoft will counter.

Several companies, including Yahoo and Time Warner’s AOL online unit, as well as private investment firms, have been rumored to have negotiated a deal with DoubleClick. It is unclear whether those companies are still in the race.

DoubleClick serves as the middleman between marketers and publishers in the online ad marketplace. Its product line, known as DART, enables agencies, marketers and media companies to target, deliver and track online advertising. It boasts more than 1,500 clients and handles ad serving for display ads, rich media ads, affiliate marketing and, more recently, search marketing.

Hellman & Friedman, an investment firm, owns the majority of shares in DoubleClick, is planning on offloading the company for about twice what it purchased. Back in 2005, the firm paid about $1 billion dollars for DoubleClick.

As internet advertising becomes an increasingly important sector, companies are raising the stakes and willing to fork out billions for prime assets in order to get ahead in the market. DoubleClick has large customers, including the AOL network and MySpace, and a Google buy would strengthen the company’s hold on Web.

The bidding is reportedly set to be over in the coming days, so the end results may be known quite soon. Hellman & Friedman may also take DoubleClick public again as another strategy.

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Entry was posted on Monday, April 2nd, 2007 at 10:13 am under Google, Microsoft, Technology.

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