Report: Expect More Aggressive Acquisitions From Google

Despite what many believe to be an overheated market for tech start-ups, Google hasn’t been shy about spending. Last week it bought security company Zynamics; today it reportedly agreed to acquire BeatThatQuote.com;  it’s still waiting for Justice Department approval on the $700 million purchase of ITA Software announced last year; and it reportedly offered $5 billion for Groupon last year.

Today’s Wall Street Journal report on Google’s acquisition plans indicate the search giant doesn’t expect to slow the pace of acquisitions anytime soon, having made a record 48 purchases last year. Google is “going to continue to be aggressive,” David Lawee, Google’s vice president of corporate development, told the Journal.

Eschewing the idea that there’s a financial bubble in the tech sector, Lawee acknowledged to the WSJ that values are “high, but they reflect the real possibilities,” adding that “these are truly exciting times” for entrepreneurs.

In the piece, Lawee points out multiple acquisitions that have been successful for Google: Applied Semantics (which led to AdSense), Keyhole (which led to Maps improvements), Android Inc., and DoubleClick. But Google has also been accused of being an unfriendly environment for entrepreneurs. Founders and top executives of companies such as YouTube, AdMob and Dodgeball have all left Google, the Journal reports.

Lawee told the Journal that the company’s acquisition strategy won’t change when founder Larry Page takes the helm as CEO in April.