Much is being made about Microsoft's $6 billion acquisition of Aquantive and how the deal is a response to Google's $3.1 agreement to buy DoubleClick. That is true, of course. Microsoft (MSFT), aggressively trying to catch up to Google (GOOG) in the search business, is going to spend whatever it takes not to fall further behind. But that doesn't mean buying Aquantive isn't a shrewd move on its own.
The paid search market, dominated by Google, has soared in the last few years. But so has the display ad market -- and Microsoft and Google are betting that's where much growth will occur, which is something I wrote about in a recent issue of Business2.0 magazine.
|