How did Google acquire more than 250 startups in the past 20 years?
Tejal Wakchoure | Published Nov 12, 2022
Since 2001, Google has acquired 254 companies including giants like Android and YouTube. Some of these acquisitions haven't worked out, including Slide (bought for $182M, shut down after 2 years) and Motorola Mobility (bought for $12.5B, sold for $3B after 2 years). But due to the sheer number of fields that Google operates in, most of these businesses have been integrated into its existing products.
Nearly 10% of all (disclosed) companies have been integrated into the GSuite bundle
Company details by common product groups
Data: Crunchbase, CB Insights
Compared to its MAMMA peers, Google has consistently focused on acquiring startups, surpassed only by Microsoft with 265 total acquisitions. The company focused on expansion most in 2014, acquiring 34 companies that year alone.
Google outpaces most MAMMA Peers
Annual acquisitions, 2001-2022
Data: Kaggle
$12.5B
Motorola Mobility (2011)
$3.2B
Nest Labs (2014)
$2.1B
Fitbit (2021)
$1.65B
YouTube (2006)
$50M
Android (2005)
Focus on the mobile market
Over 10% of the companies that Google has acquired operated in the mobile domain. These mergers supplemented the growth of Android over the past two decades. Since its acquisition in 2005, Android has grown to reach 3 billion users worldwide. It now holds 71% of the global market share for operating systems.
M&A strategy broken down by market
Number of acquired companies, 2001-2022
Data: Kaggle
Young, US-based companies in the lead
Out of the 254 companies Google has acquired so far,
According to Google's public records, 157 of its 254 companies were created less than 6 years ago at the time of their acquisition. Only 5 companies were over 20 years old (Zagat, Director, Like.com, Instantiations, and Boston Dynamics).
Most startups have been acquired within 6 years of their creation
% of acquired companies with typical age on deal date
Data: Crunchbase, CB Insights
With the tech industry facing unprecedented financial problems, I was surprised to see Alphabet continue to acquire companies through the end of 2022. This led me to an exploration of their M&A strategy and how it has changed over time.
Project Type: data storytelling, data visualization
Role: data storytelling, data visualization
Tools: Figma for prototyping, Illustrator and D3.js for graphics
Date: November 2022
Sources: Crunchbase scraped data, CB Insights, Kaggle (Google M&A)