Google has announced it has officially completed its acquisition of DoubleClick after receiving approval from European Union regulators.
The deal has been in the works for close to a year and has been the subject of criticism from advocacy groups like the Center for Digital Democracy who today slammed EU regulators saying they “have helped strengthen a growing digital colossus that will now be in a dominant position to shape much of the global future of the Internet and other online media.”
Eric Schmidt – CEO Google
On the Official Google Blog, CEO Eric Schmidt writes about what the immediate future holds for the two companies. He mentions the overall organizational plan and staffing levels.
Schmidt writes, “An immediate task we’ll undertake over the next few weeks is matching and aligning DoubleClick employees with our organizational plan for the business. This will involve determining the right staffing levels for all functions and will ensure that we have the right people assigned to the right responsibilities within Google.”
Sounds like that could mean layoffs. Well, Schmidt adds, “As with most mergers, there may be reductions in headcount. We expect these to take place in the U.S. and possibly in other regions as well. We know that DoubleClick is built on the strength of its people. For this reason we’ll strive to minimize the impact of this process on all of our clients and employees.”
The possibility of layoffs is most likely not a major shock to employee’s as those kinds of things have a tendency to be whispered about months before they happen. At least Schmidt is upfront and honest about the possibility of people losing their jobs.
The rest of the post talks about how Google and DoubleClick will provide more relevant display ads and an improved online experience for users and that Google is committed to user privacy.
“Because user trust is paramount to the success of our business, users will continue to benefit from our commitment to protecting user privacy following this acquisition.”
