Google’s moves toward dominance

A look at some of the major deals the Web giant has made or attempted in an effort to expand its reach.

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Google annnounced Sept. 8 that it acquired restaurant review and ratings service Zagat. The company said it plans to integrate Zagat's content with isearch results and with its Google Maps service.

Mark Lennihan / AP

A Motorola Mobility Xoom tablet is shown. Google announced Aug. 15 that it's buying cellphone maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in cash in what is by far the company's biggest acquisition to date. The company completed the deal May 22.

Paul Sakuma / AP

This is an undated screen grab showing San Francisco area traffic from digital map maker Keyhole Corp., which was purchased by Google in 2004. Keyhole uses 3-D technology to provide faraway or close-up views of a region, neighborhood or specific address. The images, which rely on shots taken from satellites and airplanes, can be tilted into different positions.

/ AP

Joe Kraus, CEO of JotSpot.com, a wiki software provider, poses with his company's Web site in his Palo Alto, Calif. In 2006, Google bought JotSpot, which later became Google Sites.

Dino Vournas / AP

Google co-founders Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. When Page and Brin founded Google on Sept. 7, 1998, they had little more than their ingenuity, four computers and an investor's $100,000 bet on their belief that an Internet search engine could change the world.

Paul Sakuma / AP

In early July, reports surfaced that online video site Hulu was seeking a buyer, and that Google was one of the firms considering making a bid.

Hulu.com / AP

Google purchased popular video site YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. At the time, it was Google's largest acquisition.

Richard Vogel / AP

On Oct. 12, 2010, the search engine giant announced that it would invest in a project called the Atlantic Wind Connection. The project would build an underwater "superhighway" to funnel power from offshore wind farms to nearly 2 million homes from New Jersey to Virginia.

File Photo / Courtesy of Nuon

Google's largest acquisition before Motorola Mobility was its 2007 purchase of Internet advertising company DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. The move expanded the search firm's presence into online banner advertising and raised the stakes for its competitors.

Steve White / AP

Google offered $700 million in cash to buy ITA Software, a little-known company that is used by popular travel sites such as Orbitz and Kayak.

Eraldo Peres / AP

In 2008, Google pulled out of a proposed advertising partnership with Yahoo after the Justice Department signaled it would oppose the deal because it could help the dominant Web company become a monopoly.

Mark Lennihan / AP

Google purchased mobile advertising platform AdMob in 2009 for $750 million. The FTC's approval of the deal paved the way for Google to extend its dominance of Internet marketing into the wireless arena. AdMob's founder and chief executive, Omar Hamoui, is seen here at his company's offices in San Mateo, Calif.

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

In November, news outlets including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported that 2-year-old online discount service Groupon rejected a $6 billion offer from Google.

Scott Olson / Getty Images

In an attempt to get into the social networking game, Google announced in August that it was buying Slide, a start-up that makes apps for social networking, for $228 million. Here, Slide's founder and chief executive, Max Levchin, is seen at the company's office.

Ben Margot / AP

Google bought e-mail security firm Postini Inc. for $625 million in 2007. The move was part of an effort by Google to make inroads into Microsoft's market by developing software that businesses and corporations use.

Paul Sakuma / AP

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