Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Google Acquires YouTube; Noonan's still middle-class

I'm in a suit today. No, not a lawsuit, though that might be more exciting than wearing this tie all day. I'm headed to a meeting downtown, at the new Google office building, and I specify "building" as I won't actually be meeting in the Google office. But I plan to stop by and eat their food.

I think they could probably spare it at this point given the monumental deal that went through yesterday, where Google formally acquired YouTube. I believe the total price came out to be $1.65 billion. Wrapping my mind around this figure gives me a bit of a headache. I don't know much about M&A deals, but my thoughts would lead me to believe a company would have to show some type of profit before being acquired, letting the potential acquire-er know that there's money to be made. These days, it seems like any start-up who gets enough PR buzz around them shows potential. Admittedly, there is great potential for Google to monetize YouTube with pre-roll video ads, where a 15-30 second ad would run prior to the video. So I wouldn't say that the deal is a bust by any means.

So I think if Google can afford YouTube at $1.65 billion, then I'm sure they won't miss a) any food I happen to grab 0n my way out or b) one of those neat scooters they have to transport themselves down the long halls in this new office.

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