Google’s acquisition of Nik Software this morning apparently spurred The Verge to chart the company’s buyout history.
The Internet giant’s mergers and acquisitions team has steadily bulked the walls of Google’s headquarters for the last two years. It gobbled up 79 firms last year alone, including companies for patent-related purposes, and this year it added 11 more to the pile. Sure, the numbers from 2011 and then 2012 may seem a little unbalanced, but not when someone calculates the $12 billion price tag of this year’s Motorola Mobility purchase.
Google, originally a basic search engine that founded exactly 14 years ago this month, is now more of a Renaissance, er, man. It conquers search, maps, video, email, advertising, mobile OS, and it dabbles in photography, business reviews, fiber TV and Internet, social networking, travel management, voice-control features, heads-up displays, self-driving cars, facial-recognition systems, etc. The list goes on. Look at the chart above for a more sweeping look at the goliath Google has become.
Visualizing Google’s Growth (via The Verge):
From 2001 to present day, Google has purchased and integrated over 110 companies. When founder Larry Page took over as CEO in April, 2011, he killed off a number of small initiatives and refocused the company around 7 core product divisions. All the companies in this graphic have been organized into by those groups, but don’t necessarily reflect their placement upon initial acquisition. Mouseover the infographic (above) to magnify the acquisition details, and refer to the key for additional information. Source: Google Corp Dev and Wikipedia.
Via: 9to5Google