Fair Use Doctrine: for Education and Research

DoubleClick Shares Rise as Privacy Issue Is Doubted By Anthony Massucci

New York, Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of DoubleClick Inc., the No. 1 Internet-advertising company, rose as much as 18 percent as Salomon Smith Barney Inc. analyst Lanny Baker said Internet privacy concerns at the company will be short-lived.

DoubleClick shares rose 9 15/16 to 91 5/8 in midday trading, after reaching 96 3/8. Its shares were down 35 percent this year before today.

DoubleClick lost almost a fifth of its market value after it disclosed last week that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether it engaged in unfair or deceptive practices in gathering information about Internet users. Analysts said the company will clear its name and is more than adequately protecting consumer information online. ``Privacy's a hearty issue at the moment,'' Baker said. ``It's kind of overblown, and everyone is taking their eye off the strength of the business.'' Baker reiterated his ``buy'' rating and raised his 12-month price target on the stock to 165 from 83.

Last week, New York-based DoubleClick introduced guidelines to protect Web users' privacy and hired PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC to ensure that the company is adhering to its new policy. The FTC probe followed a complaint from an advocacy group that DoubleClick was illegally combining data on Internet users' surfing habits with personal profiles from a marketing database.

`Normal Anxiety'

Concern over privacy and DoubleClick's efforts to appease Internet users is likely to force the government to address the issue, Baker said. Earlier this week, DoubleClick said it expects legislation governing online privacy to be enacted as soon as next year.

DoubleClick probably has already taken the proper steps necessary, he said, adding that concern from consumers and investors was ``normal anxiety.'' ``Six to 12 months from now, consumers won't be as interested,'' said Baker. ``It's like a couple of years ago when investors were worried that credit-card theft would keep Amazon.com (Inc.) from growing.''

DoubleClick was surprised by the public's concern about linking online and offline habits, executives said at an Internet advertising conference this week. The company plans to continue educating consumers on how to keep their online surfing habits from being tracked.

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-- rocky (rknolls@no.spam), February 25, 2000

Answers

I opted out a few days ago. God, not only is it not "click here." You'd think you were wrecking the American way of life by opting out.

DC is scum.

Todd

-- Todd Detzel (detzel@jps.net), February 25, 2000.