DoubleClick

Former market leader in ad serving technology, now fully integrated into Google's advertising ecosystem

DoubleClick was founded in 1996 as one of the first companies to provide ad serving technology and management solutions for digital advertising. The company developed influential products including DART (Dynamic Advertising Reporting and Targeting) for ad serving, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), and DoubleClick Ad Exchange, which became foundational technologies in the programmatic advertising ecosystem. DoubleClick pioneered cookie-based ad targeting and real-time bidding technologies that shaped modern digital advertising. Google acquired DoubleClick in 2007 for $3.1 billion, one of the largest acquisitions in advertising technology history. Following the acquisition, DoubleClick's products were gradually integrated into Google's advertising infrastructure. DoubleClick for Publishers evolved into Google Ad Manager, while DoubleClick Campaign Manager became Campaign Manager 360, and other products were absorbed into what is now Google Marketing Platform. The DoubleClick brand was officially retired by Google in 2018, with its technology and products fully integrated into Google Marketing Platform and Google Ad Manager. Despite the brand's discontinuation, DoubleClick's legacy remains significant as its innovations in ad serving, programmatic advertising, and publisher monetization tools established many of the standards and practices still used in digital advertising today.