I had never heard of kuro5hin.org, until I saw a Slashdot story linked to them.
Anyway, they have an interesting article up titled, “Who Will Google Buy Next?” The article provides a list of other companies that Google picked up over the years, and the authors own suggestions on who Google should buy. A nice little read if you follow Google related news.
Here are some of my own ideas on who Google could buy:
- Vonage – There have been rumors about that Google wants to get into the VoIP market. Most rumors involve Google and Skype, which is why I didn’t suggest them.
- Opera Web Browser – Ever since Google registered the domain name, gbrowser.com there has been speculation that Google is building a web browser based off of Mozilla Firefox. Since Mozilla is a non-profit organization, buying that company is out of the question. Opera Software on the other hand makes since. Google is out to make money, and the Opera web browser would provide another mechanism for that. Opera also has a close partnership with Google to provide AdSense inside the free version of Opera, as well as a number of Google searches integrated into the browser.
- Invision Power Services – IPS has a lot to offer, as the company has several internet related products. The most popular product is the Invision Power Board. Again, Google is out to make money, and all of the IPS products have to be purchased. Integration of the IPS products into pro version of Blogger.com would provide the ultimate solution for a personal blog or web page. IPS is also in the process of creating a Content Management System (CMS) which also would be a nice addition.
This is just a few of my ideas. Sure there are a million different companies out there that Google could buy. Some make since, others don’t. There is just no way to tell who or what the big G will buy up next.