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elaineo

Google didn't get to where it is today by amassing a bunch of random overvalued startups.

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Maybe not "random" or "overvalued", but it did buy (and then further develop):

* YouTube

* Google Earth

* Google Docs

* Picasa

* Android

* Doubleclick

While none of these is the very heart of Google (Search, AdWords), they encompass some of the most popular and most strategically important of Google's offerings, don't you think?

"While none of these is the very heart of Google (Search, AdWords), ..."

Think again. AdWord/AdSense came out of "Applied Semantics", that they bought in 2003 for $102MM.

Here's the full list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...

Not to mention they also bought Doubleclick, which helped.

Applied Semantics had nothing to do with the creation of AdWords. AdWords was created in-house by Google years before they acquired Applied Semantics. It was an extremely successful and lucrative operation long before Applied Semantics ever entered the picture.

Google also developed and launched AdSense prior to acquiring Applied Semantics.

They acquired Applied Semantics because it was complementary to what Google had already developed.

http://googlepress.blogspot.com/2004/04/google-acquires-appl...:

"A key application of the CIRCA technology is Applied Semantics’ AdSense product"

Is this wrong?

I absolutely agree with you. What Google didn't do is acquire Geocities and del.icio.us, only to disappoint the core users. That was Yahoo.

And then comes the recent string of Summly, GoPollgo, Loki, and Tumblr. From my lay perspective, they seem random, and quite overvalued. Maybe Yahoo will do good things with these companies, as Google did with its acquisitions. Or maybe these will go the way of Geocities.

Shouldn't question be how does google manage to stay ahead in the curve ( despite being a big company ) ? Are their acquisitions ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... ) helping, and how much they play the part in being one of the dominant company ?

Hm, well. Google bought Youtube. Picasa. Android. Maps.

The remarkable thing to me is that after they buy and prove the value of these things, they effectively rewrite them entirely. That takes balls, and massive resources.

This means they weren't buying the product or technology. They were buying the eyeballs, the audiences. Then they invested what was necessary to sustain growth and keep the eyeballs.

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