Google Acquisition Spree Misses Boston Area
Robert Buderi7/6/07Comments (1)Follow @bbuderi
It’s hard to overlook the Google acquisition machine. Just last month, the search giant gobbled up its latest company, Fremont, CA-based Grand Central Communications. By one count, anyway, it was Google’s 23rd California purchase, vesus a nearly identical number outside the company’s home state.
Where does Boston figure in all this? Just about nowhere, it seems. We spotted an interesting item in the GetQuik Blog yesterday. GetQuik is a California startup that wants to be “the eBay for take-out and delivery orders to restaurants.” One of its founders has listed Google acquisitions by location. According to his tally, the 2003 purchase of Boston-based Genius Labs is the only Google acquisition in the area—ever. That seems outrageous, or demoralizing. Maybe with Google’s recent expansion of its operations in Kendall Square that will change.
Bob is Xconomy's founder and editor in chief. You can e-mail him at bbuderi@xconomy.com, call him at 617.500.5926, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bbuderi.
Ken
7/20/07 11:21 am
Robert,
Thanks for the link to my blog post. As Google grows larger, I expect that Boston will be a good feeding ground for Google’s increased appetite. Although most of the acquisitions do not disclose terms of the deal, I would guess that most of the Google acquisitions to date (excepting a few noteable ones) are small in nature. When Google identifies a promising technology or talented engineer, they traditionally have pulled from the Bay Area.