Archive for February 2001

Google: Start of the shopping spree

Google today announced that it has acquired Deja.com’s Usenet Discussion Service. This acquisition provides Google with Deja’s entire Usenet archive (dating back to 1995), software, domain names including deja.com and dejanews.com, company trademarks, and other intellectual property. Financial terms of this transaction were not released.

Available now at http://groups.google.com, this new Usenet search feature enables Google users to access the wealth of information contained in more than six months of Usenet newsgroup postings and message threads. Once the full Deja Usenet archive is added, users will be able to search and browse more than 500 million archived messages with the speed and efficiency of a Google search. In addition to expanding the amount of searchable data, Google will soon provide improved browsing capabilities and newsgroup posting.

“We welcome Deja’s loyal users into the growing community of Google users worldwide,” said Larry Page, Google CEO and co-founder. “With more than 500 million individual messages and growing fast, Usenet and its thriving community is one of the most active and valuable information sources on the Internet.”

“The acquisition of Deja’s significant assets will enable Google to offer an important new source of information to both Deja and Google users,” said Omid Kordestani, Google’s vice president of business development and sales. “We will continue to build and acquire the necessary technologies to provide the best search experience to millions of Google users worldwide.”