Google/DoubleClick: DoubleBlock

In forking over $3.1 bn for DoubleClick late Friday, Google proves anew that it will pay any price to block Microsoft from getting traction on the web. It’s not that buying DoubleClick makes no sense. Both peddle online advertising and they even share a Manhattan office building. But Google likely paid more than 60 times earnings for DoubleClick. Of course, against Google’s $1.6bn acquisition of YouTube last year that may look downright cheap. After all, YouTube had no profits. Still, its stock...