Over the course of Google’s short existence (16 years), they have managed to change the landscape of the internet and the way we access information. Google services 3.5 billion searches per day which equates to 1.2 trillion searches a year worldwide. Although Google’s dominance within the search engine space is well known, Google like to splash the cash on new ventures. From a telecommunications company to home automation technology, Google has acquired over 170 companies since its launch in 1998. While some of Google’s acquisitions are well-known such as Motorola and YouTube, others like Waze which is their 5th most expensive acquisition is (for the most part) not common knowledge. But with $24.5 billion spent on 10 of their most expensive acquisitions, just what was the strategy behind each of these purchases?

1. $24,546,000,000
10:
$500MILLION
TOP 10 MOST COSTLY ACQUISITIONS
SkyBox Imaging
2014
Strategy: With Skybox’s satellite technology,
Google will be able to obtain accurate and
up-to-date imagery for Google Maps.
09:
$555MILLION
Dropcam
2014
Strategy: Upon acquiring Nest Labs (see below)
earlier in 2014, Google bought out Dropcam (video
monitoring and security technology) to help Nest
Labs increase their home automation products
line-up.
08:
$625MILLION
Postini
2007
Strategy: After already utilising Postini (an email
and web security service) under license to help
with the security of Gmail, Google decided they
wanted to acquire the technology themselves to
further its growth. In 2014, the service was
discontinued.
07:
$700MILLION
ITA Software
2010
Strategy: ITA is a major stakeholder in the travel
reservations software industry. So much so that
Bing Travel (a competitor of Google) also relied
heavily on it. Google acquired ITA, thus owning
‘infrastructure’ behind a direct competitor. The
service 'Google Flights' has since been launched.
06:
$750MILLION
AdMob
2009
Strategy: Prior to the deal, internet usage on
mobile devices was growing rapidly. Google
reacted quickly to acquire a mobile ad platform,
understanding that mobile advertising was going
to become very big for clients and partners.
05:
$966MILLION
Waze
2013
Strategy: Waze is a GPS-based navigation app.
Its users engage very frequently with the app by
updating its roads, a culture which Google would
like adopted into their other services.
04:
$1.65BILLION
YouTube
2006
Strategy: YouTube which launched in 2005
quickly became the go to place for everything
video-sharing. Google snapped up the company
just over a year after its launch and has
transformed it into the 2nd biggest search engine
in the world - only behind Google itself.
03:
$3.1BILLION
DoubleClick
2007
Strategy: Google wanted a strong presence within
the online advertising world which prompted them
to acquire DoubleClick. Not only did they acquire
their software, but they also acquired the
relationships with web publishers, advertisers and
agencies, beating the likes of Microsoft and a host
of other potential buyers to the acquisition.
02:
$3.2BILLION
NestLabs
2014
Strategy: Expanding its presence in consumer
homes, Google bought Nest Labs - a company
which makes smart thermostats and smoke
detectors. Nest Labs was founded by Tony Fadell,
who is known as “the father of the iPod”.
01:
$12.5BILLION
Motorola
2011
Strategy: The motivation behind Google buying
Motorola was its patents. However, 2 years after
purchase, Google sold Motorola for $2.91bn to
Lenovo after becoming unprofitable. Although they
did manage to keep the majority of the patents.
www.aptitude.co.uk @AptitudeTeam
Pros:
Spotify is the largest
subscription based
music service in
the market and
Google want in.
With an impressive
market capitalisation
of $23bn, Netflix
is a big player within
the subscription based
video streaming industry.
• Good music industry relationships
• Understands subscription-based
entertainment
• Largest music streaming service
Cons:
• Price tag
• Already own Songza, another
music service
• A bidding war could emerge
between Google and Facebook
Pros:
• 50 million subscribers
• Producing quality exclusive content
• Available on most modern devices
Cons:
• Price tag
• Already own other video
streaming services
GOOGLE’S FUTURE
ACQUISITION PREDICTIONS
INTERESTING
GOOGLE FACTS
THE 2 YEARS PRIOR TO
JANUARY 2014
GOOGLE
OUTSPENT
ITS 5 CLOSEST RIVALS
ON ACQUISITIONS
COMBINED
GOOGLE CEO
LARRY PAGE
USES THETOOTHBRUSH TEST
TO SEE IF A COMPANY
IS WORTH BUYING
IS THIS SOMETHING
YOU WILL USE
ONCE OR TWICE
A DAY, & DOES IT
MAKE YOUR
LIFE BETTER?
Sources: forbes.com / techcrunch.com / marketingland.com / bbc.co.uk / nytimes.co.uk / theguardian.com / ft.com