Search engine giant Google usually buys up companies and does not sell. But in the case of search engine marketing (what is it?), Google is a seller. It has gotten ridden of its search engine marketing business Performics to French advertising group Publicis Groupe. The terms are not disclosed. Chicago-based Performics came to Google when the latter acquired DoubleClick Inc. Google, which owes its existence to generating objective search results, sold Performics since search engine marketing is all about how to “manipulate†search results. It went against Google’s position of maintaining “objectivity†in search engine results.
Launched in 1998, Performics now employs nearly 200 search marketing specialists with employees in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, London, Hamburg, Sydney, Singapore and Beijing.
Performics will part of Publicis Groupe’s VivaKi Nerve Center, a new strategic entity launched by the Groupe last June. VivaKi leverages the collective scale of Digitas, Starcom-MediaVest, Denuo and Zenith-Optimedia to develop new services, tools and partnerships, including new and emerging performance marketing platforms.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008.