clipped from: www.clickz.com   
In this two-part column, I'll focus on the vision behind the deal: both the expressed vision of the players, and likely additional motivations behind the deal. I'll share my perspective about the astonishing price of $3.1 billion.

A big factor driving the deal price was the DoubleClick Media Exchange, built on top of DFP (Dart for Publishers). DoubleClick had announced this media exchange publicly just a days before the acquisition announcement, but industry insiders had been aware of it for some time. The media exchange, powered by DFP, allows top-tier publishers to opt in to the new platform simply by checking a box.