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"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?

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