Is Google DoubleClicking its way to dominance?

Rarely do Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo! (YHOO) join hands on an issue, but when the firm on the other side is Google (GOOG), they are more than happy to do so. Ever since Google announced the $3.1 bn takeover of DoubleClick, the two software giants have been crying foul over the control it will give Google over Internet advertising.

While Microsoft - who also wanted to buy DoubleClick - is playing the role of the peeved loser pointing to anti-trust violations (no stranger to being the target of anti-trust accusations themselves), Yahoo seems more concerned about the future of advertisers on the web. To paraphrase, both companies are running scared of Google's latest attempt at dominating the webosphere, where it already holds sway with search (paid or organic). The fact of the matter is that Google’s purchase of DoubleClick would combine the two largest online advertising distributors from two dominant advertising channels (search and display ads) and thus substantially reduce competition in the advertising market on the Web - a shrewd move indeed by Messrs Schmidt, Brin and Paige.

Having spent the best part of the last two years on internet marketing analytics and having worked with both Google and DoubleClick, I can clearly see this being a seminal move. Here are the reasons - Google is the 800-pound gorilla in online advertising (It owns 56% of the core U.S. search market; Microsoft - 12%; Yahoo 23% - as of July 2007) and this merger doesn't change that. But at the same time, this deal clearly has the potential to ignite Google's efforts in the display ad market and down the road gives them the opportunity to create a platform that marries search and display ads in a way that it will be hard to fathom others imitating. Even the sky high price may be less a function of DoubleClick's current worth and more about what it can strategically provide for Google—and what it could have done for Microsoft or Yahoo!

Google seems to be following the most successful adage in business - "If you can't make it, buy it". Google's display efforts to date, like its attempts to expand outside of search in general, have been marginally successful at best. So in a lot of ways, it had to do acquire a company like DoubleClick. But what was surprising to me was the aggressive approach taken by Google towards dominating the industry - while it could have easily and conservatively sat on its riches from search, it decided to expand its horizons and give it rivals something more to think about.

As the legal battles and corporate counter-strategies unfold over the next few months (Microsoft has since announced the $6 bn purchase of DoubleClick's rival aQuantive), I can but only sit and admire a company that simply doesn't want to lose anything - not even a market share it doesn't have!

Fast and Furious...

...two adjectives that would aptly describe the recently concluded 20/20 Cricket World Cup. Some might say "too fast, too furious", but I think the speed was just about right. This was the best cricket tournament since '99 World Cup - the last such one where at least 2 other teams (SA & Pak) were as good as the Aussies before the men in gold and green surged ahead to leave the rest of the world languishing in doldrums.

It is a common business transformation strategy to change a company's focus from its products and revenue to its consumers and many leading companies have turned around losing businesses by successfully implementing it. Cricket over the last 10 years had become a game run by lawyers/politicians for lawyers/politicians with focus on its product (ODIs) and revenue (broadcasting revenue). Along the way the needs and pulse of the consumer was forgotten. While on the verge of alienating the fans from the game, serendipitously or not, the ICC has just implemented one such successful transformation.

Despite numerous experts questioning the purity of the concept (Articles 1, 2 & 3), I am convinced that the game has received the perfect dose of caffeine to keep it going. While it definitely doesn't tamper with the purity and position of the more pristine form of the game that is test cricket, it certainly marks the beginning of the end of the 50 over game and nothing highlighted that more than the contrasting nature of the two world cups staged over the last 6 months - one whose winner was obvious 4 years before it started and the other whose winner was unknown until the last 4 balls were bowled!

While the purists correctly argue that test cricket is the true test of skills, truly close contests of the highest quality are too far and few in between to attract anyone but purists to the game. Over the last 10 years there have been only 2 mindblowing test series (Aus vs. India 2001 & Aus vs. Eng 2005) to satisfy the non-purist. Steve Waugh and his fearless Aussies revolutionized the game by scoring at an unheard of rate of 4 an over in tests, but few other teams could consistently match them to make things interesting. Arguably, the shorter version levels the field for a more even contest where ephemeral brilliance rather than sustained genius is sufficient to win games. But in doing so, it has unearthed the the key to closer contests and tighter finishes that has become a rarity in the game. Also, the average cricket fan does not have 5 days to watch the game in stadiums and appreciate the purity of the game. He prefers the luxury of Cricinfo to give him the executive summary. 20/20 has truly brought the fan back to the grounds.

And finally, to critics who site that the version may not produce a Sachin or a Lara, the counter argument is that Sachins and Laras are supreme talents that will show up and shine irrespective of the format of the game. It might be worthwhile to remember that SRT first announced his talent to the cricket world by taking the life out of Abdul Qadir (described by none other than Viv Richards as the toughest bowler he had faced) in an exhibition match in Pakistan before he went on to greater deeds and bigger stages. Hence the argument is moot.

Twenty Twenty is victory for the cricket consumer and hence I rest my case!