KEY POINTS:
There have been enough multi-billion-dollar dotcom acquisitions in the past two years to make the original internet bubble look very small indeed.
I read the headlines with awe, translating the mainly US dollar figures into our currency which, as strong as it currently is, produces even bigger amounts to ponder.
The biggies have been Murdoch's buy-up of Myspace and IGN (US$1.2 billion combined), eBay's purchase of Skype (US$2.6 billion) and Google's stock acquisition of Youtube (US$1.65 billion).
Now Google has another one on the table, a US$3.1 billion cash purchase of web advertising giant DoubleClick. This one seems to have generated more alarm than awe and rightfully so.
DoubleClick may not be a familiar brand to most New Zealanders, but in your web travels there's a pretty high likelihood that the graphical and video adverts you're presented with on websites are served up by DoubleClick, which after 11 years in business has a huge share of the US display and banner advertising market.
As the number one player in search-related advertising, Google would be left with an estimated share of over 80 per cent of internet display advertising with DoubleClick onboard.
The competitive implications of that are worrisome enough, which is why Google's rivals are lobbying the US Government to block the sale. But another anti-merger front has opened up and the front-line fighters in this battle are privacy advocates.
Why? Because, as the privacy bodies appealing to the Federal Trade Commission accurately point out, "Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick will give one company access to more information about the internet activities of consumers than any other company in the world."
If, like I do, you're increasingly depending on Google's extensive range of web services for everything from internet communications to storing your digital content, you'll understand the concerns.
The one advantage of the old internet was that it consisted of a series of separate silos of information, requiring separate log-ins and passwords to access them. It meant no one organisation had a complete picture of your web activity.
Enter Google, a company that owes its success to knowing in such detail what you do on the web. Google has made billions out of web advertising that's tailored to our tastes based on what words and phrases we are entering when we use Google services.
I've jumped into the Google world head first.
I don't use Outlook Express much these days. I access my suite of Google services through Google's webmail client Gmail. My blog is hosted by Blogger, a Google company and all of the photos I post to my blog have been automatically stored in Picasa, something I didn't ask for, but which I'm very grateful for.
I have instant messaging conversations in Google Talk as well as internet telephony conversations. Transcripts of the chat sessions are recorded in my Gmail account.
A new feature, Google Web History, allows users to look back in time at the websites they have browsed and search them for specific lines of text.
Incredibly useful to us but also to Google, which could track every move those who sign up for the free opt-in service make on the web.
Then there are all the other Googles I use on a regular basis - Earth, Maps, News, Video and most frequently of all, Google Web Search.
Have I become too dependent on Google? Yes. Am I worried about how much information Google has on me? Yes.
DoubleClick doesn't have such an extensive view of the web surfers its clients' advertisements reach, but it knows the surfing habits of millions of web users. The intelligence Google will have with DoubleClick in the fold will be staggering.
Frankly, Google is welcome to my browsing behaviour, seeing as it has provided me with all of these great services for free. I'm happy with them knowing what sort of person I am. I just don't want them to know me personally, ever.
Google says it looks at the web behaviour of its users, but doesn't keep records of the individual users themselves. That's great, but what if that changes?
Privacy groups have asked the FTC to scrutinise Google's ability to track and profile internet users with data that identifies users personally. Rightly so.
This is an exercise that should be undertaken on a regular basis in the interests of protecting our privacy. If Google gets the green light, then maybe it can get its cheque book out for DoubleClick.
* petergnz@gmail.com
