Publicis outbids WPP for Performics

Publicis Groupe has bought Performics, the Google-owned DoubleClick search marketing arm, for an undisclosed sum. It is understood the group acquired the company after a second round of bidding against WPP Group.

The deal, which was revealed in Marketing Week (MW June 19), will give Publicis Groupe extended operations in the UK, Germany, Asia and the US. It will also use the acquisition to “strengthen the offering” of its new strategic entity, the VivaKi Nerve Centre, which was launched in June 2007.

Publicis Groupe chairman and chief executive, Maurice Lèvy (pictured), says the deal will “position the group for significant growth” by bringing its clients to it.

Performics offers natural and paid search through its DART Search solution, which allows marketers to keep track of how much has been bid for a keyword, as well as the effectiveness of any keyword. Performics’ clients include music retailer Zavvi, Hewlett Packard and Ladbrokes.

The company, which was formerly called Dynamic Trade, launched a search marketing service is 2001 but was bought by DoubleClick in 2004. Google bought DoubleClick in March this year.

In April, Google split DoubleClick Performics into two separately run business units – affiliate marketing and search marketing. It then opted to keep the affiliate business and sell the search arm to avoid a conflict of interest.