Google's big buys

Google's big buys

A list of some of Google's biggest and/or most important acquisitions to date.

Applied Semantics, April 2003 ($102 million)
Built AdSense, the paid search ad platform that still drives most of Google revenue and profits.

Picasa, June 2004 (terms not disclosed)
Image-organizing tool remains one of Google's most popular services

Android, August 2005 (terms not disclosed)
The platform started by ex-Danger head Andy Rubin is now the second-most popular mobile OS in the world.

YouTube, October 2006 ($1.65 billion)
Video-sharing site that was initially a copyright risk now earns more than $1 billion a year.

DoubleClick, April 2007 ($3.1 billion)
Helped launch Google's display advertising business.

FeedBurner, June 2007 ($100 million)
Helped users and advertisers manage RSS feeds.

Postini, June 2007 ($625 million)
The company's e-mail security services have become key features of Google's enterprise apps business.

GrandCentral July 2007 ($45 million)
The technology behind Google Voice.

AdMob, November 2009 ($750 million)
Gave Google a major technology inroad into the mobile advertising business.

On2 video compression, February 2010 ($133.9 million)
With this acquisition came codex that Google later renamed WebM and is pushing as a new Web video standard.

ITA, June 2010 ($700 million)
Purchase of travel search company was opposed by competitors who felt it would give Google unfair power.

Like.com, August 2010 ($100 million)
Visual search and e-commerce engine boosted Google's product and image search sites.

Slide, August 2010 (terms not disclosed)
Social media company founded by PayPal veteran Max Levchin was purchased as part of effort to make Google products more "social."

AdMeld, $400 million (June 2011)
Aimed at helping Google optimize online display ads.

Motorola Mobility, August 2011, pending ($12.5 billion)
Would give Google valuable intellectual property and get it directly into the handset business.