Ever since Google CEO Eric Schmidt promised "reductions in headcount" as part of the Google-DoubleClick merger, there's been much tension at the New York-based online ad network. Who gets to stay and pig out on all the new Googley perks? Who will have to hit the streets to face a slowing job market? The answers arrive April 1. It's not an April Fools' joke.

It is a possible sign of a bad first quarter for Google. April 1, as opposed to March 31, allows Google accountants to push expenses from the bloodletting into the second quarter. Too bad it's for real: DoubleClickers could use the laugh. One tipster tells us the suspense is killing morale at DoubleClick: "People are all halfway out the door."

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