News Source: http://searchengineland.com
Published: Apr 03, 2008 - 12:41 am
Story Found By: rustybrick 1875 Days ago
Category: Vertical Search
Just kidding...
Google is going to sell off Performics, part of DoubleClick. Smart move Google. Hope the Performics team is okay...
14 Comments
Comments
Should Danny be blamed for 300 people losing their jobs? ;-) kidding
Good thing I went to Sam’s Club for my SEO services. :P
"We use to be owned by Google" is probably as effective in a meeting as "We are owned by Google" when a client is trying to decide between two firms. The inference is that they’ve got the inside track even without it being overtly said.
Uggh, they’ve just got themselves deeper into the door of affiliate marketing / CPA. CJ and linkshare watch out! I think this goes along with their publisher affiliate network model that they’ve been testing.Out to buy some more google stock.
Danny’s original call was indeed correct. This is the right move on Google’s part - the only move, really, that they could have made. I have to think this was the plan from the beginning - it would have been naive of them to think the continued operation of Performics could go on without a ton of negative press. I can’t buy that Danny’s open letter was the cause of the decision as the post seems to imply, but his outcry at the onset of the DoubleClick decision was insightful and spot-on.
I wouldn’t discount the significance of Danny’s influence on this outcome - or at least the timing of this announcement. The piece of this that has me really intrigued is what happens to DART Search. Does it go with Performics? Is that even possible? Can it be that easily decoupled from the DART ad server product? Would Google really want to do that? Since Performics’ whole SEM practice is based on using DART - if the DART Search product remains with Google - doesn’t Performics lose much of their competitive differentiation by being separated from their platform and the ability to influence the product development and direction? Surely Google would support the product for some time, but running an antiquated 3rd party multi-engine bid management and reporting tool can’t be high on their priority list. They’d surely want to update it and integrate it with their existing advertiser apps/tools ASAP, as they’ll no doubt do with the main DART ad server. Makes my brain hurt. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about the product plans soon.
This is definitely the only right thing for Google to do. :)Can you imagine the controversies this would have caused had they actually continued and become the most effective SEO firm in the world? ;)
@LanceLoveDay I’m certainly not one to discount Danny’s influence, but I think this was how Google was going to go from the very beginning. There wouldn’t be much of a defense on their part if they went forward offering SEM services through Performics. I think you’re right to say that the timing was significant. I would liken this to some degree to President Regan demanding that Gorbachev "tear down this wall" - when it was clear the Berlin Wall was coming down in short fashion. A well-timed statement, but the causality is something of an illusion. I will say that search marketers as a whole and their potential outcry probably influenced the decision, and Danny is arguably the most prominent member of the group...I just can’t imagine that his open letter by itself foiled any plans on Google’s part to start offering SEM services. This had to be the way they were going from the beginning.
Maybe they saw the SEMCompare reviews...
what would be classic if is Yahoo buys it.
streko :)and then Guy Ritchie would make a smoking film of it (of course Steve Ballmer included) or Clint Eastwood a tech western - Eric Schmidt in cowboy hat sizing up Performics from head to toe.Anyway, it was a smart move, I’m very glad to hear it.
Hmm, in light of the fact that Matt Cutts himself linked to Danny’s open letter I feel I should temper my statement above. I would hope, though, that Google would have come to this decision on their own. The "trust us, we’re not cheating" bit wouldn’t have sat too well with anybody.
LMAO @ Baidu!
So Danny, things pretty much turned out exactly as I pointed out to you in the comments of your open letter:"What their official statement reads to me is: "We’re not touching Performics even with a firepoker, until we’ve looked into detail whether there’s any technology or employees worth "assimilating". Then we’ll make an announcement on our intentions, hopefully in early April"."Is an "I-told-you-so" in order? :-P