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DoubleClick - Google Deal Finalized

After nearly a year of regulatory wrangling, Google acquired DoubleClick on Tuesday for $3.1 billion, the ASSOCIATED PRESS reports.

Google took control of DoubleClick only a few hours after Europe's antritrust regulators cleared the path for approval, 11 months after it was initially announced.

US regulators cleared the deal in December, despite objections from Microsoft and others that the transaction would give Google too much control over online advertising and consumer behavior.

The deal could possibly put more pressure on Microsoft and Yahoo to resolve their merger dispute so as not to distract them. Google will almost certainly now try to get ahead on Internet advertising now that the DoubleClick deal is finished.

Google's takeover will also create more challenges for its management team, who is already dealing with a slowing US economy.

Layoffs are not out of the question, and likely take place in the United States.

DoubleClick is based in New York with offices in France, England, Germany, Ireland, Spain and Australia. They employ 1,500 workers, while Google has nearly 17,000 employees - up from 1,600 four years ago.

DoubleClick specializes in placing more dynamic multimedia ads, and should broad Google's already-extensive reach in the $40 billion Internet advertising market.

However, a similar takeover of YouTube in November 2006 has yet to produce significant profits for Google after paying $1.76 billion for the video site.

Microsoft's $40 billion offer to acquire Yahoo has yet to come to fruition because the two sides cannot agree on a price. Both companies opposed Google acquiring DoubleClick.

The announcement of the Google deal last April caused Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL to spend more than $7 billion gobbling up other online advertising networks in an attempt to slow Google.