Google axes 300 jobs

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 3 Apr 2008 at 11:52

Google has announced that it intends to axe 300 employees and the search marketing arm of its latest acquisition, DoubleClick.

DoubleClick is Google's largest purchase to date, costing the company $3.1 billion after it finally received permission from the European Commission for the deal.

The 300 lost roles, which represent a quarter of DoubleClick's US staff, are an unfortunate but inevitable side effect of a large acquisition, claims a Google spokesperson.

"As with many mergers, this review has resulted in a reduction in headcount at the acquired company. Today, we are laying off some DoubleClick employees in the U.S. and placing others in transitional roles."

DoubleClick has 300 more employees located outside the country, which may also be at risk, claims the spokesperson. "This process is ongoing and we have nothing to add at this stage but any decisions will be made in accordance with local law."

As well as the layoffs, Google intends to sell Performics, the search marketing arm of the newly acquired company.

Performics has existing deals in place not only with Google, but also Yahoo and Microsoft, representing a conflict of interest, according to Google.

"It's clear to us that we do not want to be in the search engine marketing business. Maintaining objectivity in both search and advertising is paramount to Google's mission and core to the trust we ask from our users," says Tom Phillips, director, DoubleClick integration at Google in a blog post.

Google was unavailable for further comment at the time of writing.