Briefly describe the strategic implications of each acquisition

Briefly describe the strategic implications of each acquisition

1995 – 1997 company found

1998 The search for a buyer
Google Inc. opened its door in Menlo Park, California.

1999 Google's commitment to running its servers on the open source operating system Linux.

2000 At the

Googleplex, a unique company culture was evolving. To maximize the flexibility of the work space, large rubber exercise balls were repurposed as highly mobile office chairs in an open environment free of cubicle walls.
2001 Around the world, Google's circle of friends continued to widen. An agreement with Lycos Korea brought Google search to a new group of Asian Internet users. In October, a partnership with Universo Online (UOL) made Google Latin America's premier search engine. New sales offices opened in Hamburg and Tokyo to satisfy growing international interest in Google's advertising programs. Google's borderless appeal was also evident in the evolving user interface: Users could now limit searches to sites written in Arabic, Turkish, or any of 26 other languages.

2002 Their wish came true in February of 2002, with the introduction of the Google Search Appliance, a plug-and-play search solution in a bright yellow box. Soon it was crawling company intranets, e-commerce sites, and university networks, with organizations from Boeing to the University of Florida powering their searches with "

Google in a box."

2003 Version 2.0 of the

Google Toolbar was released in the Spring and the Google Deskbar joined it in the Fall. The Toolbar's enhancements included a pop-up blocker and form filler, while the Deskbar's location in the Windows Taskbar made it possible to search using Google without even launching a web browser. And there was so much more to find, thanks to several advanced search features, including a calculator, parcel tracking, flight information, VIN numbers and more, all accessible through the familiar Google search box.

2004 launches included Google Groups, a new version of the venerable Usenet archive of 1 billion posts on thousands of topics that Google has managed since 2001. The new Google Groups enables users to create and manage their own email groups and discussion lists. And the Google Print program announced agreements with the libraries of Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the University of Oxford, and The New York Public Library to digitally scan books from their collections so that users worldwide can search them in Google.


2005 The Google Search Appliance spawned a new blue Google Mini, a smaller and lower-cost solution for small and medium-sized businesses that want Google quality search for their documents and sites.


2006 it seemed all the world took notice of blogs and feeds – two important ways to publish quickly and easily, and to subscribe to many timely publication sites. After a year of learning and growing, and Google Blog runs frequent postings about Google products and people by those who know them best – and thousands of people subscribe to the feed so they can read it on the go. And in May we launched AdSense for feeds, a way for every blogger to gain ad revenue by running targeted AdSense ads within the feed. As for Blogger, we continue to develop features, including the ability to post new items and photos from anywhere – even a mobile phone.


2007 announced the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a joint effort with more than 30 organizations to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using more energy-efficient computers and computer equipment. Google.org announced the RechargeIT Plug-In Hybrid Car Initiative, and finished the installation of 1.6 megawatts of solar panels at our campus in Mountain View. Further,