By David L. Rawle

A wild shopping spree has been going on.  First, Google paid $3.1 billion to buy DoubleClick, an 11-year-old company that provides ad agencies and marketers with the ability to traffic, target, deliver and report on their Internet advertising campaigns.

DoubleClick sets browser cookies to track users as they travel from Web site to Web site and record what commercial ads they view and select while browsing. That enables

DoubleClick to help advertisers reach their optimal targets with near-perfect precision.  Highly valuable in today’s increasingly Internet-focused marketing world.

Not to be outdone, Yahoo! paid $680 million for the remaining 80% of Right Media that it didn’t already own. Right Media’s business is similar to DoubleClick’s. 

Then WPP, the world’s second largest advertising firm, bought 24/7 Real Media Inc. for $649 million.  Like the other two acquired companies, 24/7 Real Media helps clients reach highly targeted audiences on the Internet.

Those three acquisitions alone represent an investment of more than $4.4 billion in Internet ad services.

What’s going on, and how does it affect the marketing landscape?

In rational terms, what’s going on is a recognition and appreciation of the dynamic growth of Internet advertising. Annual Internet display ad spending increased substantially—to more than $10 billion during the past year. And spending on so-called “rich media,” including videos, jumped 320%.

Consumers are spending an average of 26 hours a month online, and now nearly half of the country has access to broadband. So, while the Internet used to be a conversion tool in support of offline media tactics through search engine marketing and data feed submission, it has now become a venue for brand building and customer loyalty enhancement.

Within that context, it makes great sense for the mega-portals like Google and Yahoo! to have captive companies that can connect advertisers to their optimal targets. And, for WPP, having 24/7 Real Media under the tent helps them bring to their clients the latest technologies in consumer targeting.

What may be less rational is the obsession with measurability. My sense is that advertisers need to be careful not to drink too much of the measurability Kool Aid. It ain’t all about the numbers. There are lots of valuable communications initiatives that can really catalyze consumer loyalty, but they may not be specifically measurable. In the rush toward the clear and concise world of Internet advertising, don’t lose sight of complementary strategies that can significantly strengthen your brand.

The Interactive environment has never been more robust and more competitive. Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft battle it out daily. They are fighting hard for technological superiority, and the enormous prices they are paying for acquisitions must inevitably encourage more companies to pursue even greater innovations. 

That’s a great set of circumstances for the rest of us. The Internet advertising environment has now matured to the extent that it stands toe-to-toe wirh offline media. One does not replace the other. 

But, with the technological achievements of companies such as those being acquired and the entrepreneurial initiatives of their acquirers, advertisers can now expand their Internet presence in much more innovative and impactful ways.

David L. Rawle is chairman of Charleston-based Rawle Murdy Associates Inc., a marketing, advertising and public relations firm. E-mail him at drawle@rawlemurdy.com or visit his blog at www.davidrawle.blogspot.com. 

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