Google is well-known for it's habit of buying up smaller tech companies in an attempt to strengthen it's product list and engineering talent pool.  Recently though they've branched out into much larger mergers, such as the deal with web advertising giant, DoubleClick.  eWeek sat down with Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, last week to talk about Google and it's rather expensive company-buying habit.  It turns out, that when you average it out, Google buys out about one company per week!

The article goes on to talk about why Google purchases who they purchase, and what their overall goal is as a company, to be a tools provider, and a content platform instead of a content provider or creator.  It's an interesting look at Google's acquisition history and an insight into what sort of company or product would make the grade and attract Google's wallet.