Google Trims 300 Jobs at DoubleClick

Some 300 DoubleClick employees, who briefly enjoyed a taste of Google culture after the ad agency was acquired in March, are facing layoffs as the search giant merges the two operations, reports the New York Times. It’s the first major layoff in Google’s history and trims DoubleClick’s US workforce by about 25%. DoubleClick employs about 1,500 globally.

Staff cuts were no surprise, but were larger than anticipated. Analysts said it may signal Google, which has seen its stock price plummet in recent months as ad click rates declined across the industry, was being cautious. Google also said it would sell one DoubleClick unit, Performics Search Marketing, which helps marketers place ads on search engines. (More Google stories.)