In the wake of Google’s announcement that they will buy Doubleclick for $3.1 billion dollars, several companies are encouraging the Justice Department and antitrust regulators to take a closer look at the deal (Wall Street Journal, April 16). While the news itself is no surprise, I found it rather ironic the company pushing hardest for more government scrutiny is none other than Microsoft.
Wasn’t Microsoft the company that told the Justice Department years back that the market is more efficient at determining what’s best for the economy? Add this new propensity for encouraging government interference to the growing list of symptoms seems to indicate that Microsoft is no longer the energetic, fast-growth company it once was. In fact, if you ask some analysts, they will tell you Microsoft’s shareholders might be better served if the company spun off some of its fast-growth components instead of having them bogged down by the quickly maturing and sluggish core business.
For other fast-growth executives out there, my recommendation is to spend less time worrying about what your competition is doing and more time figuring out what it is your customers and potential customers really want. Fight tomorrow’s wars, not yesterday’s.