Web Masters

Kevin O'Connor tells the story of how he built DoubleClick, the digital ad network that pioneered online advertising.

Show Notes

Even if you haven’t heard of DoubleClick, you’ve certainly been impacted by it. DoubleClick basically invented Internet advertising as we know it. Their ad servers powered much of the early days of Web advertising. Eventually Google bought DoubleClick, and its core technologies were deeply integrated into Google’s ad network, meaning there’s a good chance DoubleClick’s ad serving platform is impacting you in some way literally this second.

Considering DoubleClick’s revolutionary impact on advertising, most people would expect that DoubleClick's founder, Kevin O'Connor, came up with the idea for DoubleClick based on years of experience in the advertising industry. But that’s actually not the case. Kevin was a coder.

How does someone who knows nothing about advertising come up with the idea for a revolutionary ad tech platform? That's what you'll learn about in this episode of Web Masters.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.

What is Web Masters?

Web Masters is an original podcast that explores the history of the Internet through the stories of some of its most important innovators. In each episode, host Aaron Dinin, a serial entrepreneur and digital media scholar, talks with Internet entrepreneurs who created important websites, tools, services, and features. Some are hugely popular, some you’ve never heard of, and all of them have impacted everything you do online. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how the Internet has enabled -- and continues to create -- some of the greatest business opportunities in history from the people who have proven they know how to build successful Internet businesses.