Google on Wednesday said it plans to cut 25 percent of U.S. employees at its recently acquired DoubleClick unit. The search titan plus plans to sell off DoubleClick’s search-engine marketing assets.

It’s all part of the integration planning for Google and DoubleClick products and business units, according to Tom Phillips, director of DoubleClick integration. Google has been exploring the possibilities since it closed the $3.1 billion acquisition on March 11.

One of the conclusions: Google is better off splitting the DoubleClick Performics business into two separately run business units: affiliate marketing and search marketing.

“It’s clear to us that we do not want to be in the search-engine marketing business. Maintaining objectivity in both search and advertising is paramount to Google’s mission and core to the trust we ask from our users. For that reason, we plan to sell the Performics search-marketing business to a third party,” Phillips explained.

Maintaining Search Objectivity

According to Phillips, Google is

betting selling off the search-marketing arm will allow the company to maintain objectivity while making room for the search-marketing business to continue to grow and innovate and serve its customers.

While Google has not identified a buyer, Phillips said the company has received preliminary interest from a number of its current partners. Meanwhile, search marketing will continue to run as a separate entity until the division is sold.

“We plan to integrate the affiliate-marketing business into existing Google operations, providing enhanced value and reach for our affiliate advertisers, and additional tools and monetization opportunities for our publishers,” Phillips explained. “Together, we believe that we can continue to grow that business and deliver on the high expectations from partners.”

Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, expected Google to take quick steps to sell off the search-marketing platform. That’s considering Google received a lot of criticism about the possibility it would…

Orginal post by Top Tech News