Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) appears to be willing to shop until it drops, although it is not clear what the future of each of its investments may be.
The big search company is buying Postini for $625 million. Google describes its new prize as "a global leader in on-demand communications security and compliance solutions serving more than 35,000 businesses and 10 million users worldwide." In plain English that means security for e-mail, messaging, and other web-based communications applications.
Google does not say what Postini's revenue run rate is, but it appears that owning the company will help it compete with Microsoft Corp. (NADSAQ: MSFT) in the desktop applications business. The real question is how much protection companies want for their e-mail and messaging function. It is unclear that it is a big business.
The lack of any cogent explanation for the purchase has to make investors wonder if the Google buying binge is getting a bit overheated.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
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