US Internet giant Google is ready to begin buying up other companies again as the world economy begins to recover, chairman and chief executive Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday.
“Acquisitions are back on,” Schmidt told reporters after an upbeat talk to students and business leaders in Pittsburgh on the eve of the G20 summit of the world’s most biggest economies.
Schmidt did not go into detail on Google’s major takeover targets.
However, in a wide-ranging talk hosted by the Pittsburgh Technology Council at Heinz Field stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, he said the firm wanted to invest in creative new technologies.
“Google has created a venture arm called Google Ventures. It’s an experiment, from our perspective. We have lots of cash, I think. As you know, we have a large cash portfolio,” he said.
“We decided that we wanted to invest in the technology areas, both to get a financial return, of course, but also to accelerate the kinds of technologies that eventually Google will benefit from,” he said.
“So it’s too early to say how successful it’s going to be, but we’re definitely investing,” he said.
Last week, Google announced that it had bought reCAPTCHA, a company that produces software to protect Web sites against spam and fraud, signaling that it was once again in the acquisitions market after a quiet period.
Google also unveiled a new tool that allows notes and comments to be posted alongside Web pages for others to read.
“Google Sidewiki” appears as a narrow pop-up browser panel on the left hand side of a Web site and displays messages from users about the content of the page.
The messages are visible to other users of Sidewiki who visit the site and they can post their own comments, but they cannot edit the comments of others.
A Web site about museums in New York city, for example, would have a Sidewiki panel featuring relevant notes and comments from other visitors.
Google, in a blog post, said Sidewiki was a way for Web users to contribute “insights” and “helpful information” next to any Web page.
The Internet search and advertising giant said it had developed an algorithm to ensure that the “most useful, high-quality entries” are displayed at the top of a Sidewiki panel.
Sidewiki is a feature of Google Toolbar for Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers and Google said it would be available soon for Google Chrome, its own Web browser.
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