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WSJ is reporting on a tip from Bloomberg that Microsoft is buying DoubleClick an ad-serving network. The price tag is rumored to be around $2 billion, which is a hefty amount even for some insiders. This clearly shows how desperate Microsoft has become to compete with Google at all costs, if they cant build it, they’ll buy it.

DoubleClick helps better targeting of ads via its technology called Dart. It also monitors the performance of ads and help create successful campaigns for marketing companies. DoubleClick went public in 1998 at $4.25 per share and reached $134 on the first day of trading. The almost went bust in 2000 when share price dropped to $4.53.

Can Microsoft lure customers away from Google with DoubleClick? Can it spur adoption of its Search ? The answers to these we don’t know at the moment, but till now it has done everything it could to compete with Google, but in vain.

While we are at it, “Microsoft if you are so eager and desperate, how about buying Yahoo ?“. You might also want to read Om Malik´s take on this.

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