Everyone and their brother already covered the fact that Google won the bid for DoubleClick (who owns Performics, the 3rd largest affiliate network) to the tune of $3.1 BILLION dollars.

Here’s some interesting news. Seems Microsoft and the other Big Boys are worried that the rumors are true - Google REALLY IS trying to take over the world and it’s just not fair! ThreadWatch has a good discussion started about this - Google Anti-trust Issues Over DoubleClick. I’m sure we will hear lots more speculation once this news fully hits the blogosphere Monday.

NewYork Times :: Microsoft Urges Antitrust Officials to Scuttle DoubleClick Deal

“Microsoft, a veteran defendant of epic antitrust battles in the United States and Europe, is urging antitrust officials to consider scuttling Google’s plan to buy DoubleClick, an online advertising company.

Microsoft contends that the $3.1 billion deal, announced last Friday, would hurt competition in the fast-growing market for advertising on the Web and raise questions about how much personal information would be collected by Google, which is already a dominant player in online advertising.” More…

WSJ :: Google’s Rivals Fear DoubleClick Deal Concentrates Too Much Web-Ad Clout

“Microsoft Corp., AT&T Inc., Time Warner Inc. and several other large Internet and media companies are hoping to encourage antitrust regulators to closely scrutinize Google Inc.’s planned $3.1 billion purchase of Internet-ad-services firm DoubleClick Inc., said executives at the companies.” More…