Category: Search Engines

CoolTechZone published a timeline of Google’s acquisitions. In retrospect, it is interesting to see what were those acquisitions used for and how their employees and cultures mashed with Google’s ones. As David Vise claims in “The Google Story” and a recent article “Googling for Gold” in BusinessWeek explains, Google’s approach to acquisitions has been to seek for technology start-ups which have a product, technology or idea that can easily be incorporated into the rest of Google’s galaxy of products and naturally expand it, and not an overhyped marketing-driven corporation. See for yourself the Google acquisition and investment story so far:

Date	Company Name	Field	Related Google Service
2005 Jul	Android Inc.	Mobile Devices Software Provider	Possible use for Google Talk or Google Phone
2005 Jul	Current Communications	Internet Communications	Possible use for Google Wi-Fi
2005 May	Dodgeball	Mobile based social networking	Integrate with Google Maps/Earth/Ride Finder
2005 May	Urchin Software	Web Analytics	Google Analytics
2004 Dec	ZipDash	Mobile GPS/Traffic Updates	Google Ride Finder
2004 Oct	Keyhole	Maps	Google Maps, Google Earth
2004 Oct	Picasa	Image Management	Picasa/Blogger
2004 Apr	Ignite Logic	Setting up Websites for Law Firms	Possible use for Searching Laws/Lawsuits
2003 Oct	Genius Labs	Blogging	Blogger.com
2003 Oct	Sprinks	Advertising	AdSense and AdWord
2003 Sep	Kaltix	Personalized Internet Search	Google Personal
2003 Apr	Applied Symantics	Online Advertising	AdSense, AdWatch
2003 Apr	Neotonic Software	E-Mail Customer Support	E-mail Discussion Groups, Gmail, CRM
2003 Feb	Pyra Labs	Blogging	Blogger.com
2001 Sep	Outride, Inc.	Personalized Internet Search	Personalizing Internet Search
2001 Feb	Deja’s Usenet Discussion Service	Usenet Search	Google Groups

Search engines have become an increasingly important part of the online experience of American internet users. The most recent findings from Pew Internet & American Life tracking surveys and consumer behavior trends from the comScore Media Metrix consumer panel show that about 60 million American adults are using search engines on a typical day.

These results from September 2005 represent a sharp increase from mid-2004. Pew Internet Project data from June 2004 show that use of search engines on a typical day has risen from 30% to 41% of the internet-using population, which itself has grown in the past year. This
means that the number of those using search engines on an average day jumped from roughly 38 million in June 2004 to about 59 million in September 2005 – an increase of about 55%. comScore data, which are derived from a different methodology, show that from September 2004 to September 2005 the average daily use of search engines jumped from 49.3
million users to 60.7 million users – an increase of 23%.

This means that the use of search engines is edging up on email as a primary internet activity on any given day. The Pew Internet Project data show that on a typical day, email use is still the top internet activity. On any given day, about 52% of American internet users are sending and receiving email, up from 45% in June of 2004.

The Top Searches of 2002

(Based on Danny Sulivan’s newsletter)

2002 Year-End Google Zeitgeist – A look back at what people searched on at Google, over the past year.

Dragonball: Web’s Most Wanted 2002 – What people searched on at Lycos in 2002. Note that in a week or so, you’ll have to go to the archives and use the “Top 100 of 2002” for the year-end review.

Yahoo! 2002 Buzz Leaders – Top search terms overall for 2002 and in various categories, according to Yahoo.

Ask Jeeves Reveals Top Searches for 2002 – Top searches at Ask Jeeves, via a press release.

Tattoos, Britney top Web search list – CNN, Write up on the Lycos list.

Linux out-Googles Microsoft – ZDNet, Write up on the Google list.

Web Searches Take Cultural Pulse – Wired News, Dec. 18, 2002, Google, Lycos and other search sites have unleashed lists of the year’s top search terms, which many say are an accurate barometer of cultural fads, fears and obsessions.

UK’s most popular searches – The Guardian, Dec. 17, 2002