I certainly dont believe that Microsoft couldnt have outbid Google, I think that DoubleClick made a lot of sense with Google because its largest client AOL is also one of the largest clients and partners of Google. Going with Microsoft would have resulted in a potential lose of AOL. So may be they used Microsoft to pump their valuation and then let Google do the rest. Poor ol Microsoft, the once powerful company, that used to erode market share and valuations of others is now being used to increase just that. May be Microsoft really is dead now.
