It has proven to be a monumental banner year for Google. It’s hard to believe that one year ago, things such as Google+ and the now all-familiar +1 button were nonexistent. The company has come far from being just a search engine. For some, it is an office suite, email service, music player, social network, and much, much more. We’re not exaggerating when we write “Google Nails 2011.”
This year, Google underwent some major changes, both internally and externally. Some old faces returned, such as current CEO Larry Page, and some interfaces went away, as we saw when the new Gmail appeared. The company acquired dozens of startups, made some significant environmentally-friendly investments and faced a couple of antitrust issues.
Google’s first acquisition of 2011 was eBook Technologies, a company that focused on hardware and software distribution of e-books and e-readers. In the same month, Google also acquired SayNow, a telephony startup.
It was announced in January that Larry Page, Google’s first CEO from 1998 to 2001, would replace Eric Schmidt as head of the company, effective April 4. Schmidt would then take on the role of executive chairman.
In 2010, Google attempted to buy Groupon, but was rejected. Instead, the search giant launched its own service, Google Offers.
