As expected, Google is making some layoffs as it fully assimilates its recently acquired DoubleClick into its organization, according to The New York Times. With a global staff of 1,500 (1,200 of which reside in the US), DoubleClick had a sizable employee base to begin with.

Finding places for all of these people to go is a difficult undertaking for Google, especially as its own employee numbers have grown rapidly in the past year. Given the cooling down of its stock prices and apparent fear of shareholders, bloating a company's staff is something that Google will have to avoid at all costs. After mergers, especially one of this size, it's typical to see layoffs. but the loss of 300 or so employees from a total of 1,500 is the largest cut Google has ever had to make.

And just to sprinkle a bit more drama onto the layoff situation, Google has also begun its plans to sell off DoubleClick subsidiary Performics. Something had to be done. The search engine marketing layer of DoubleClick is a direct conflict of interest for Google's search and advertising services. So who knows what will happen to the employees of Performics, too?

There have been no buyers named for the Performics sale just yet, but it's clear that Google is anxious to get things squared away with DoubleClick and all that it entails, as soon as possible. If I'd been fighting all this time for an acquisition while rivals snatch up all other alternatives in the meantime, I'd be anxious to get things squared away, too.