The writing was on the wall for Google, when in April, 2007, it bought DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion.
Google, as a Search Engine, has been on the decline every since that time. The mantra, “Do No Evil” .. no longer applied as Google integrated DoubleClick into it’s core ads function.
DoubleClick: A history
“DoubleClick is often linked with the controversy over spyware because browser HTTP cookies are set to track users as they travel from website to website and record which commercial advertisements they view and select while browsing. DoubleClick is considered to be malware by several commercial organizations (Adaware, Symantec, Spybot) which detect it and provide the tools to block/remove it.
DoubleClick has also been criticized for misleading users by offering an opt-out option that is insufficiently effective. According to a San Francisco IT consulting group, although the opt-out option affects cookies, DoubleClick does not allow users to opt out of IP address-based tracking.
DoubleClick with MSN were shown serving malware via drive-by download exploits by a group of attackers for some time in December 2010.”
Google, in it’s early years, stood out to most, as a shining city on the hill when it came to search. Over the years however, Google has wandered away from it’s core as a search engine. It began the shift upon after the purchase of DoubleClick.
I used to block out the DoubleClick. I’d remove DoubleClick’s influences from my local machine at every opportunity .. I’ve since even refused to use Google’s toolbar (or any toolbar) and Google’s Web Browser Chrome.
Adservers are just that … Adservers. And over the years it’s become quite evident to me that this is what Google has become .. The Largest Adserver in the world.
“In other words, the search results that we supposedly value so highly are themselves paid placements, just like Google’s keyword ads. It’s just that in the case of search results, link owners have paid for SEO (search-engine optimization) to get Google’s attention instead of paying for SEM (search engine marketing) to make Google give their links prominence. Either way, though, searches are mostly just producing ads by any other name.” This, according to Peter Yared of CNET
The article above makes references to the Google+ and of how it’s felt that Google is Ditching Search ..
Google has been trying to ditch search for years.
There’s no money in search.
All of the greats, HotBot, Alta Vista, Excite .. All of them failed as a result of not being able to make search pay for itself. As soon as the venture capital left, so did they … No one has ever quite figured out how to monetize search .. This is why Google bought the technology of DoubleClick .. it needed an out, even as early as 2007.
