Happy Sweet 16th B-Day Google! 'Evergreen marketing insights' ▲▲▲ by Gloria Buono-Daly

Surprise to Google who turned 16 years old today (9/27 and not 9/4 as many of us once thought). Last year Google posted its very own Happy 15th B-Day doodle, a swaying piñata that when you hit with your keyboard space key you earn points! Will they have a cool animated doodle this year to celebrate? Not as cool as last year. Below is a snapshot of Google's 16th celebration doodle.

So let's all celebrate Google’s B-Day.

Ever since Google launched (September 27, 1998), there have been whirlwinds of internet momentum, controversy, and innovation.

Google doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. Google has created and acquired so much since it’s last B-Day.

Of the total 166 acquisitions Google has to date (through August 26, 2014), 38% (63) were made from 2011 to present. (Note, from 1998 through 2000 there were no acquisitions and therefore not counting those years in the average)

Interestingly, from February 12, 2001 through June 2013 (13 B-Day cycles) Google has on average, roughly 9.7 acquisitions per year (127 total divided by 13 years), through August 2014 (14 B-Day cycles, Google has on average roughly 11.9 acquisitions per year (166 divided by 14) which represents an increase of nearly 31% in 2014 vs 2013.

Below is a listing of acquisitions since it’s 13th B-Day, Sept. 7, 2011:


● Sept.   7, 2011 – Zave Networks, digital coupons for Google Offers program
● Sept.   8, 2011 – Zagat, restaurant reviews for Google Maps and Places programs
● Sept. 19, 2011 – DailyDeal, daily deals for Google Offers program in
● Oct.   11, 2011 – SocialGrapple, social media analytics for Google+ Plus
● Nov. 10, 2011 – Apture, instantaneous search for Google Search
● Nov. 14, 2011 – Katango, social circle organizer for Google+ Plus
● Dec.   9, 2011 – RightsFlow, music rights management for YouTube
● Dec. 13, 2011 – Clever Sense, mobile apps for Google Android
● Mar. 16, 2012 – Milk, Inc., social network Google+ Plus
● Apr.   2, 2012 – TxVia, online payment for Google Wallet
● Jun.   4, 2012 – Meebo, instant messaging for Google+ Plus
● Jun.   5, 2012 – Quickoffice, productivity suite for Google Docs
● Jul.  20, 2012 – Sparrow, mobile apps for Gmail Google
● Aug.  1, 2012 – Wildfire Interactive, social media marketing for Google, Google+ Plus
● Aug. 13, 2012 – Frommer’s, travel guides to enhance Zagat for Google Maps and Places programs
● Spt.  7, 2012 – VirusTotal.com,Security (SPAIN)
● Spt. 17, 2012 – Nik Software Inc., Photography (USA)
● Oct.  1, 2012 – Viewdle, Facial Recognition (Ukraine)
● Nov. 28, 2012 – Incentive Targeting Inc., Digital Coupons for Google offers (USA)
● Nov. 30, 2012 – BufferBox, Package Delivery for Google Shopping, Android(CANADA)
● Feb.  6, 2013 – Channel Intelligence, Product ecommerce for Google Shopping (USA)
● Mar. 12, 2013 – DNNresearch Inc., Deep Neutral Networks for Google and GoogleX (CANADA)
● Mar. 15, 2013 – Web Application Server Talaria, Cloud computing for Google Cloud (USA)
● Apr. 12, 2013 – Behavio, Social Prediction for Google Now (USA)
● Apr. 23, 2013 – Wavii, Natural Language Processing for Google Knowledge Graph (USA)
● May. 23, 2013 – Makani Power, Airborne Windturbines for GoogleX (USA)
● Spt. 16, 2013 – Bump, Mobile software (USA) Android
● Oct. 02, 2013 – Flutter Gesture recognition technology (USA)Google, Android, Google X
● Oct. 22, 2013 – FlexyCore DroidBooster App for Android (FRA)Android
● Dec. 02, 2013 – SCHAFT, Inc. Robotics, humanoid robots (JPN)GoogleX
● Dec. 03, 2013 – Industrial Perception Robotic arms, computer vision (USA)Google X
● Dec. 04, 2013 – Redwood Robotics Robotic arms, computer vision (USA)Google X
● Dec. 05, 2013 – Meka Robotics Robotics (USA)Google X
● Dec. 06, 2013 – Holomni Robotic wheels(USA)Google X
● Dec. 07, 2013 – Bot & Dolly Robotic cameras (USA)Google X
● Dec. 08, 2013 – Autofuss Ads and Design (USA)Google X
● Dec. 10, 2013 – Boston Dynamics Robotics (USA)Google X
● Jan. 04, 2014 – Bitspin Timely App for Android (CHE)Android
● Jan. 13, 2014 – Nest Labs, Inc Home automation (USA)Google
● Jan. 15, 2014 – Impermium Internet security (USA)Google
● Jan. 26, 2014 – DeepMind Technologies Artificial Intelligence (UK)Google X
● Feb. 16, 2014 – SlickLogin Internet Security(ISR)Google
● Feb. 21, 2014 – spider.io Anti ad-fraud (UK)DoubleClick Adsnse
● Mar. 12, 2014 – GreenThrottle Gadgets (USA)Android
● Apr. 14, 2014 – Titan Aerospace High-altitude UAVs (USA)Project Loon
● May. 02, 2014 – Rangespan E-commerce (UK)Google Shopping
● May. 06, 2014 – Adometry Online advertising attribution (USA)Google
● May. 07, 2014 – Appetas Restaurant website creation (USA)Google
● May. 07, 2014 – Stackdriver Cloud computing (USA)Google Cloud
● May. 07, 2014 – MyEnergy Online Utility Usage Monitor (USA)Nest Labs
● May. 16, 2014 – Quest Visual Augmented Reality (USA)Code Project, Google Translate
● May. 19, 2014 – Divide[disambiguation needed] Device Manager (USA)Android
● Jun. 10, 2014 – Skybox Imaging Satellite (USA)Google Maps, Project Loon
● Jun. 19, 2014 – Alpental Technologies Wireless Technology (USA)Google
● Jun. 20, 2014 – Dropcam Home Monitoring (USA)Nest Labs
● Jun. 25, 2014 – Appurify Mobile Device Cloud, Testing Services (USA)Google Cloud
● Jul. 01, 2014 – Songza Music streaming (USA)Google Play
● Jul. 23, 2014 – drawElements Graphics compatibility testing (FIN) Android
● Aug. 06, 2014 – EMU IM Client (USA) (USA)
● Aug. 06, 2014 – Director Mobile video (USA)
● Aug. 17, 2014 – Jetpac Artifcial intelligence, Image recognition (USA)
● Aug. 23, 2014 – Gecko Design Designs(USA)Google X
● Aug. 26, 2014 – Zync Render Visual Effects Rendering (USA)Google Cloud Platform

To think it took Larry Page and Sergey Brin less than 2 years to incorporate Google -- in 1996, both were PhD students at Stanford University, working on a research project when Yahoo! and AOL were the major search engines.

Sixteen years later Google has embarked on hundreds, if not thousands of innovations, ventures and acquisitions. Below is a brief timeline of my most notable Google milestones (note clicking on the table below, and then once again, will enlarge for viewing):

This chart (as of 9/4/2011) has not been updated with the latest additions listed above. One of these days, it will be updated so bookmark this blog and visit frequently. Thanks!



"Happy 16th B-Day Google!" is part of the evergreen marketing insights ▲▲▲ series by Gloria Buono-Daly