Categories
Found

The Rate Of Google

I subscribe to the [Official Google Blog](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/); it’s normally an interesting look into life at Google. But there’s been an odd pattern over the last week.

Notably:

Friday, 2:36 PM – “[The next step in Google advertising](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/next-step-in-google-advertising.html)”

> To that end, we are truly excited to announce our acquisition of DoubleClick. DoubleClick provides a suite of products that enables agencies, advertisers, and publishers to work efficiently, that will enable Google to extend our ad network and develop deeper relationships with our partners.

Monday, 5:33 AM – “[An agreement with Clear Channel Radio](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/agreement-with-clear-channel-radio.html)”

> Today’s announcement of a strategic multi-year agreement with Clear Channel Radio, the largest radio station group owner in the U.S, is an important milestone for us.

Tuesday, 12:01 PM – “[We’re expecting](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/were-expecting.html)”

> First of all, we want to welcome the team from Tonic Systems to Google. Tonic, which we’ve just acquired, is based in San Francisco and Melbourne, Australia.

Thursday, 8:10 PM – “[Collaborating with Marratech](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/collaborating-with-marratech.html)”

> As a company, we thrive on casual interactions and spontaneous collaboration. So we’re excited about acquiring Marratech’s video conferencing software, which will enable from-the-desktop participation for Googlers in videoconference meetings wherever there’s an Internet connection.

Three acquisitions and one multi-year agreement in one week.

If this rate continues – which I’m praying it won’t – Google will purchased 156 companies a year. (Are there even 156 companies worth buying a year?)

This is as they’re [destroying earnings predictions](http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/19/ap3633420.html), have nearly 12 billion dollars in the bank, and have a market cap of 146.86 billion as I write this.

I realize this number has no bearing on anything, but if you divide the amount of cash Google holds by the number of employees the company has (listed in the Forbes article as 12,238), you’re left with a ratio of $972,381 per employee.

Mind-boggling.