5 ms·

What companies does Google own?

70 points by naeemnur 8y ago

k_sze 8y ago
Are we talking about “Google” Google or “Alphabet” Google?
jcims 8y ago
Pro-tip: After a six month blackout period, acquisitions are eligible for awards in the Google Vulnerability Rewards Program. https://www.google.com/about/appsecurity/reward-program/ https://www.google.com/about/appsecurity/reward-program/
abhinai 8y ago
I wish people were more open about their acquisition prices. An entire generation of entrepreneurs could be inspired if only they could see the potential upsides of doing a startup.
- tjoff 8y ago
  I don't think that the goal of a startup should be to get bought. The upsides of doing a startup are many, being bought and seeing your baby/hobby being ruined outside of your control is torture.
  - AznHisoka 8y ago
    I am sure 99% of people would sign up for the latter immediately if they were promised a good sized payout. Torture is a gross overexaggeration.
    - tjoff 8y ago
      It really isn't an exaggeration and can lead to depression. It doesn't have be bad though, but if you are in a good place and enjoying the work and are making a profit anyway, then there's perhaps not that much to gain from selling.
- Hydraulix989 8y ago
  Usually not being open means that the price was only high enough to repay the investors.
- rongenre 8y ago
  Often the price isn't published because it's very low (like $0 low). Most of the staff gets to keep their jobs, and founders get to claim a "successful exit".
rococode 8y ago
I think this version is more complete (at least, it includes the most recent acquisitions): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Alphabet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... Some other lists on Wikipedia include: Microsoft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Microsoft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... Apple: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Apple https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... Facebook: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Facebook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... Amazon (no pretty table): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Amazon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...
otabdeveloper2 8y ago
> July 18, 2008 ZAO Begun Not true, this deal never went through due to anti-monopoly regulations.
packetslave 8y ago
Title is misleading... the list includes companies like Boston Dynamics and Zagat that Google/Alphabet once acquired but no longer owns.
wiradikusuma 8y ago
Didn't know Flutter was from acquisition: https://acquiredby.co/google-acquisitions/flutter/2724/ https://acquiredby.co/google-acquisitions/flutter/2724/
- serial_dev 8y ago
  I don't think the "UI Toolkit" Flutter you know today was from an acquisition. Eric Seidel (leading the Flutter team at Google) mentioned in a video that they needed a name for the project and they used a name from one of their acquisitions. As verifying that a name is available in most important countries is expensive and time-consuming, they just went through their internal database of available names and this is how they picked Flutter. I couldn't find a link to the video right now.
  - amelius 8y ago
    What was the main product of the original Flutter?
    - muthuraj57 8y ago
      I found this [https://flutterapp.com/ https://flutterapp.com/], but I don't quite understand what the product was. Edit: Found this [https://flutter.en.softonic.com/mac https://flutter.en.softonic.com/mac]. It uses webcam to detect motion gestures.
  - solarkraft 8y ago
    Interesting. I suppose "Sky" (original name of Flutter) would've been pretty hard to market.
lucb1e 8y ago
I'm surprised that only two surprised me: HTC mobile (I assumed an HTC phone is an HTC phone) Boston dynamics (I saw this as a DoD thing) And I think a lot of people (though maybe not here) may not know about Nest and Waze. I've heard people being surprised about it, though I don't know if they made it obvious by now because I don't use either.
- MikusR 8y ago
  They sold Boston dynamics and a HTC phone is still a HTC phone. They only bought the team that made pixel
kerng 8y ago
Interesting, although not surprising to see how large powerful companies keep buying up other tech companies and possible competition early on and expand that way.
appleflaxen 8y ago
The google cemetery is even more interesting: https://gcemetery.co/ https://gcemetery.co/
- chansiky 8y ago
  There are so many quality products there that never quite caught on.

70 points by naeemnur 8y ago

Are we talking about “Google” Google or “Alphabet” Google?

Pro-tip: After a six month blackout period, acquisitions are eligible for awards in the Google Vulnerability Rewards Program. https://www.google.com/about/appsecurity/reward-program/ https://www.google.com/about/appsecurity/reward-program/

abhinai 8y ago

I wish people were more open about their acquisition prices. An entire generation of entrepreneurs could be inspired if only they could see the potential upsides of doing a startup.

tjoff 8y ago
I don't think that the goal of a startup should be to get bought. The upsides of doing a startup are many, being bought and seeing your baby/hobby being ruined outside of your control is torture.
- AznHisoka 8y ago
  I am sure 99% of people would sign up for the latter immediately if they were promised a good sized payout. Torture is a gross overexaggeration.
  - tjoff 8y ago
    It really isn't an exaggeration and can lead to depression. It doesn't have be bad though, but if you are in a good place and enjoying the work and are making a profit anyway, then there's perhaps not that much to gain from selling.
Hydraulix989 8y ago
Usually not being open means that the price was only high enough to repay the investors.
rongenre 8y ago
Often the price isn't published because it's very low (like $0 low). Most of the staff gets to keep their jobs, and founders get to claim a "successful exit".

rococode 8y ago

I think this version is more complete (at least, it includes the most recent acquisitions): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Alphabet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... Some other lists on Wikipedia include: Microsoft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Microsoft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... Apple: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Apple https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... Facebook: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Facebook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio... Amazon (no pretty table): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Amazon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...

otabdeveloper2 8y ago

> July 18, 2008 ZAO Begun Not true, this deal never went through due to anti-monopoly regulations.

packetslave 8y ago

Title is misleading... the list includes companies like Boston Dynamics and Zagat that Google/Alphabet once acquired but no longer owns.

wiradikusuma 8y ago

Didn't know Flutter was from acquisition: https://acquiredby.co/google-acquisitions/flutter/2724/ https://acquiredby.co/google-acquisitions/flutter/2724/

serial_dev 8y ago
I don't think the "UI Toolkit" Flutter you know today was from an acquisition. Eric Seidel (leading the Flutter team at Google) mentioned in a video that they needed a name for the project and they used a name from one of their acquisitions. As verifying that a name is available in most important countries is expensive and time-consuming, they just went through their internal database of available names and this is how they picked Flutter. I couldn't find a link to the video right now.
- amelius 8y ago
  What was the main product of the original Flutter?
  - muthuraj57 8y ago
    I found this [https://flutterapp.com/ https://flutterapp.com/], but I don't quite understand what the product was. Edit: Found this [https://flutter.en.softonic.com/mac https://flutter.en.softonic.com/mac]. It uses webcam to detect motion gestures.
- solarkraft 8y ago
  Interesting. I suppose "Sky" (original name of Flutter) would've been pretty hard to market.

lucb1e 8y ago

I'm surprised that only two surprised me: HTC mobile (I assumed an HTC phone is an HTC phone) Boston dynamics (I saw this as a DoD thing) And I think a lot of people (though maybe not here) may not know about Nest and Waze. I've heard people being surprised about it, though I don't know if they made it obvious by now because I don't use either.

MikusR 8y ago
They sold Boston dynamics and a HTC phone is still a HTC phone. They only bought the team that made pixel

kerng 8y ago

Interesting, although not surprising to see how large powerful companies keep buying up other tech companies and possible competition early on and expand that way.

appleflaxen 8y ago

The google cemetery is even more interesting: https://gcemetery.co/ https://gcemetery.co/

chansiky 8y ago
There are so many quality products there that never quite caught on.