Should Google Acquire Monster.com?

By Andy Beal
Expert Author
Article Date: 2006-01-05

Oh goody, more speculation and rumor. ;-)

This time, CNNMoney suggests that Google might consider acquiring Monster Worldwide, which runs the job site Monster.com.

...Google, with $7.6 billion in cash and a richly valued stock, could easily afford to buy Monster, which is valued at about $5 billion.

Online job listing companies like Monster are rapidly growing as they steal business from newspapers' help-wanted sections...Allowing users to search for jobs is a natural extension for Google as it rolls out services such as personalized search, video search, and online mapping tools.

It's certainly not outside the realms of reality but, as Google has already shown they like the strategy of buying just a stake in a large company (a la AOL), it wouldn't make much sense to buy Monster outright and eat-up a large chunk of their war chest.

If they're looking to add to their growing arsenal of search tools, classified search is going to be big.

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About the Author:
Andy Beal is an internet marketing consultant and considered one of the world's most respected and interactive search engine marketing experts. Andy has worked with many Fortune 1000 companies such as Motorola, CitiFinancial, Lowes, Alaska Air, DeWALT, NBC and Experian.

You can read his internet marketing blog at Marketing Pilgrim and reach him at andy.beal@gmail.com.

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