Since 2001, Google has acquired many companies, primarily small venture capital-
funded firms. In 2004, Google acquired Keyhole,
Inc. The start-up company developed a
product called Earth Viewer that gave a three-
dimensional view of the Earth. Google renamed
the service to Google Earth in 2005. Google
acquired Urchin Software in April 2005, using
their 'Urchin on Demand' product (along with
ideas from Adaptive Path's 'Measure Map') to
create Google Analytics in 2006.
In October 2006, Google announced that it had
acquired the video-sharing site YouTube for US
$1.65 billion in Google stock, and the deal was
finalized on November 13, 2006. Google does
not provide detailed figures for YouTube's
running costs, and YouTube's revenues in 2007
were noted as " not material" in a regulatory
filing.In June 2008, a Forbes magazine
article projected the 2008 YouTube revenue at
US$200 million, noting progress in advertising
sales.
On April 13, 2007, Google reached an agreement
to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, giving
Google valuable relationships that DoubleClick
had with Web publishers and advertising
agencies.
Later that same year, Google
purchased GrandCentral for $50 million.The site would later be changed over to Google Voice . On August 5, 2009, Google bought out its first public company, purchasing video software maker On2 Technologies for $106.5 million.
Google also acquired Aardvark, a social network
search engine, for $50 million, and commented on its internal blog, "we're looking forward to
collaborating to see where we can take it".
In April 2010, Google announced it had acquired a hardware startup, Agnilux.
In addition to the many companies Google has
purchased, the company has partnered with other organizations for research, advertising, and other activities. In 2005, Google partnered
with NASA Ames Research Center to build 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2 ) of offices.
The offices would be used for research projects involving large-scale data management,
nanotechnology, distributed computing, and the
entrepreneurial space industry. Google entered into a partnership with Sun Microsystems in
October 2005 to help share and distribute each other's technologies.
The company also partnered with AOL to enhance each other's video search services. Google's 2005 partnerships also included
financing the new .mobi top-level domain for mobile devices, along with other companies
including Microsoft, Nokia, and Ericsson.
Google would later launch " AdSense for Mobile ",
taking advantage of the emerging mobile
advertising market. Increasing its advertising reach even further, Google and Fox Interactive Media of News Corporation entered into a $900 million agreement to provide search
and advertising on the then-popular social networking site MySpace .
In 2007, Google began sponsoring NORAD
Tracks Santa, displacing former sponsor AOL.
NORAD Tracks Santa purports to follow Santa
Claus' progress on Christmas Eve, using
Google Earth to "track Santa" in 3-D for the first
time.Google-owned YouTube gave NORAD Tracks Santa its own channel.
In 2008, Google developed a partnership with GeoEye to launch a satellite providing Google with high-resolution (0.41 m monochrome, 1.65 m color) imagery for Google Earth. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 6, 2008. Google
also announced in 2008 that it was hosting an archive of Life Magazine's photographs. Some of the images in the archive were never published in the magazine. The photos were watermarked and originally had copyright
notices posted on all photos, regardless of public domain status.
In 2010, Google Energy made its first investment in a renewable energy project, putting $38.8 million into two wind farms in North Dakota . The company announced the two locations will generate 169.5 megawatts of
power, enough to supply 55,000 homes. The farms, which were developed by NextEra Energy
Resources , will reduce fossil fuel use in the region and return profits. NextEra Energy Resources sold Google a twenty-percent stake in the project to get funding for its development.
In February 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FERC granted Google an
authorization to buy and sell energy at market rates. The order specifically states that Google Energy—a subsidiary of Google—holds the rights "for the sale of energy, capacity, and
ancillary services at market-based rates", but
acknowledges that neither Google Energy nor its
affiliates "own or control any generation or
transmission" facilities. The corporation
exercised this authorization in September 2013
when it announced that it will purchase all of the
electricity produced by the not-yet-built 240-
megawatt Happy Hereford wind farm.
Also in 2010, Google purchased Global IP
Solutions , a Norway-based company that
provides web-based teleconferencing and other
related services. This acquisition enabled Google
to add telephone-style services to its list of
products. On May 27, 2010, Google
announced it had also closed the acquisition of
the mobile ad network AdMob . This occurred
days after the Federal Trade Commission closed
its investigation into the purchase. Google
acquired the company for an undisclosed
amount. In July 2010, Google signed an
agreement with an Iowa wind farm to buy 114
megawatts of energy for 20 years.
On April 4, 2011, The Globe and Mail reported
that Google bid $900 million for six thousand
Nortel Networks patents.
On August 15, 2011, Google made its largest-
ever acquisition to-date when announced that it
would acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion subject to approval from regulators in
the United States and Europe. In a post on
Google's blog, Google Chief Executive and co-
founder Larry Page revealed that the acquisition
was a strategic move to strengthen Google's
patent portfolio. The company's Android
operating system has come under fire in an
industry-wide patent battle, as Apple and
Microsoft have sued Android device makers
such as HTC, Samsung, and Motorola. The
merger was completed on the May 22, 2012,
after the approval of People's Republic of China .
This purchase was made in part to help Google
gain Motorola's considerable patent portfolio on
mobile phones and wireless technologies to help
protect it in its ongoing patent disputes with
other companies, mainly Apple and
Microsoft and to allow it to continue to
freely offer Android. After the acquisition
closed, Google began to restructure the Motorola
business to fit Google's strategy. On August 13,
2012, Google announced plans to layoff 4000
Motorola Mobility employees. On December
10, 2012, Google sold the manufacturing
operations of Motorola Mobility to Flextronics for
$75 million. As a part of the agreement,
Flextronics will manufacture undisclosed Android
and other mobile devices. On December 19,
2012, Google sold the Motorola Home business
division of Motorola Mobility to Arris Group for
$2.35 billion in a cash-and-stock transaction.
As a part of this deal, Google acquired a 15.7%
stake in Arris Group valued at $300 million. [124]
On June 5, 2012, Google announced it acquired
Quickoffice , a company widely known for their
mobile productivity suite for both iOS and
Android. Google plans to integrate Quickoffice's
technology into its own product suite. [125]
On February 6, 2013, Google announced it had
acquired Channel Intelligence for $125 million.
Channel Intelligence, a technology company that
helps customers buy products online, is active
globally in 31 different countries and works with
over 850 retailers. Google will use this
technology to enhance its e-commerce
business.
The official confirmation of Google's acquisition
of the Israel-based startup Waze occurred in
June 2013. Waze is promoted as a "community-
based traffic and navigation app".
Following the acquisition of Waze, Google
submitted a "10-Q" filing with the Securities
Exchange Commission (SEC) that revealed that
the corporation spent US$1.3 billion on
acquisitions during the first half of 2013. The
filing also revealed that the Waze acquisition
cost Google US$966 million, instead of the US
$1.1 billion figure that was initially presented in
media sources.
The 2012 acquisition of WIMM Labs, a company
that previously made an Android-powered
smartwatch, was confirmed in August 2013. As
of August 31, 2013, Google has not publicly
commented on the news concerning WIMM
Labs. The acquisition of Flutter, a creator of
hand gesture recognition technology, was
confirmed by the corporation in early October
2013. The reported price is US$40 million and
Google spokesperson stated: "We're really
impressed by the Flutter team's ability to design
new technology based on cutting-edge
research." Flutter's technology allows users to
enact hand gestures to control navigation for
apps such as iTunes, Windows Media Player,
and Winamp.
On January 26, 2014 Google Inc. announced it
had agreed to acquire Deepmind Technologies
Ltd., a privately held artificial intelligence
company from London . DeepMind describes
themselves as having the ability to combine the
best techniques from machine learning and
systems neuroscience to build general-purpose
learning algorithms. DeepMind’s first commercial
applications were used in simulations, e-
commerce and games. As of December 2013, it
was reported that DeepMind had roughly 75
employees. The technology news website
Re/code reported that the company was
purchased for $400 million though it was not
disclosed where the information came from. A
Google spokesman would not comment of the
price. The purchase of DeepMind aids
in Google's recent growth in the artificial
intelligence and robotics community.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google
