Microsoft Hits Google’s DoubleClick Deal

When Google bought DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, it beat Microsoft’s rumored bid of $2 billion. Looks like Microsoft’s being a bunch of sore losers.

Microsoft, a veteran defendant of epic antitrust battles in the United States and Europe, is urging regulators to consider scuttling Google’s plan to buy DoubleClick, an online advertising company.

Microsoft contends that the $3.1 billion deal, announced on Friday, would hurt competition in the fast-growing market for advertising on the Web and raises questions about how much personal information would be collected by Google, already a dominant player in online advertising.

Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, said in an interview yesterday that Google’s purchase of DoubleClick would combine the two largest online advertising distributors and thus “substantially reduce competition in the advertising market on the Web.”

Google dismissed Microsoft’s assertions. “We’ve studied this closely, and their claims, as stated, are not true,” Eric E. Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, said in an interview last night.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Fun thing about Microsoft: their products are boring, but they’re always good for laughs.