DoubleClick Layoffs

One quarter of the U.S. employees at online advertising company DoubleClick have been laid off less than a month after the company was acquired by Google. Some former employees were offered contract positions, while others have been offered four months severance pay if they pursue jobs in another industry or two months pay if they choose to seek employment with a Google/DoubleClick competitor. Google also announced that it would sell DoubleClick's search engine marketing unit, Performics Search Marketing, to avoid any possible conflicts of interest between the two companies.

Fast Facts:

1. About 300 DoubleClick employees were laid off
2. First mass layoff in Google history
3. DoubleClick was acquired by Google on March 11, 2008
4. Google paid $3.1 million for DoubleClick
5. DoubleClick employs about 1,500 people worldwide, 1,200 in the U.S.

Statement from Google: "Since our acquisition of DoubleClick closed on March 11, we have been working to match and align DoubleClick employees in the U.S. with our organizational plan for the business. As with many mergers, this review has resulted in a reduction in headcount at the acquired company."

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