How Google took control over online advertising, according to those who watched it happen

I'm sure now that Google has lost their antitrust case more people will be coming out of the woodwork who were afraid to before, this is a good look at how long Ad Tech has been bad for publishers and buyers alike.

I always say the original sin of online publishing is that we didn't care how the empty space on the page was managed for advertising and let it all just slip into Google's fingers.

Sadly though, this pattern just got repeated when it was clear there would be no consequence. The number of players who have built themselves a space in the ad tech ecosystem where they get three bites of the apple, just like Google, is high.

Even back then, ad execs had a gut feeling about Google running DoubleClick — and it wasn’t a good one.

Now, that gut feeling has become common knowledge, and as messy as it is, here’s the gist: Google’s purchase of DoubleClick gave it the tech that powered how ads were served on the web. That meant it could control the tools used by publishers then later build tools for advertisers and eventually run the ad exchange (the auction itself). By owning all three layers — buyer, seller and auctioneer — Google could steer the market to its advantage often behind the scenes.