The network giant announced a few days ago that it will buy Motorola Mobility for 12,5 billion dollars. It's the biggest expense he's ever made since his birth (September 4, 1998) and it's no coincidence. In fact, Motorola will guarantee Google about 25 patents through which it will be able to protect itself from attacks by its rival Apple and start an equal war on the technological front. Is it really the most important investment of the giant Google or is it just a reflection of a new speculative bubble in the technology sector, which also sees social networks as protagonists?
That the numbers are exaggerated compared to the past is evident. Just note that Motorola Mobility cost Google more than 4 times its second-most expensive purchase.
If we were to draw up a ranking in first place we would find Motorola with a value of 12,5 billion dollars. But the most Google has paid out so far has been $3,1 billion for display advertising service provider DoubleClick, which has earned it about $2,5 billion a year since it bought it in 2007.
In third place is YouTube, the video sharing portal, bought in 2006 for a value of 1,65 billion dollars. This figure might seem too low for a popular site like Youtube, however Google has taken into consideration all the lawsuits pending over the portal's head and has calculated its offer in these terms.
In fourth position we find AdMob a company specializing in advertising on mobile devices, bought for 750 million dollars.
Instead, for 700 million, it bought ITA Software, a software company founded in 1996 by computer engineers from MIT specializing in algorithms for optimizing travel and flight searches.
In sixth place is Postini, a company that provides email security and management services and was instrumental in the development of Gmail. Value: $625 million.
In seventh place is Admeld, an optimization platform for advertising, for 400 million dollars.
In eighth place we find the social gaming company Slide which has developed software for sharing photos on social networks and is the third largest application developer for Facebook. Google bought it in 2010 for $182 million.
In ninth place is WideVine Tech, a video enhancer bought for $150 million to develop Google TV. However some analysts have pointed out that the company may have been overvalued by 30 or 40 million.
Finally, in tenth place is On2 Technologies, a small American company that develops video codes, bought for 133 million dollars.
Source: CNNMoney
