Some people join wine-of-the-month clubs. There are plenty of other programs out there, too, where your credit card is hit every month, and your purchase is sent to you directly. If only such programs were available for Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). . . .

The company's CEO, Eric Schmidt, said Wednesday that Google plans to pick up a small company a month as a way to get its acquisition head back in the game. With the worst of the recession behind us, Google believes, this is a great way to get moving.

Yesterday, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) had its fifth birthday as a public company. Google, which has done nothing short of astounding in the last half-decade in terms of turning much of the advertising world upside-down, has defied many of the critics who probably never believed it would become as strong as it has in such a short time. That's because that kind of thinking was linear, and Google operated on an exponential scale using data and formulas to make things works quickly and efficiently, not haphazard management belief and inefficient decision making.

And so here we are. After the IPO that Google made accessible to anyone in a dutch auction back in August of 2004, the company's shares have made it all the way to $700 and above from their initial IPO price of $85, and closed yesterday at just over $443 per share after dipping almost down to $250 last December. Google has risen during the most intense part of a recession that's just now being acknowledged as being close to over.

Internet search titan Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is apparently closing in on its goal to produce renewable energy at a price point cheaper than coal. In an interview with Reuters Tuesday, Google's green energy czar, Bill Weihl, said that the odds of success have improved during the past year, and predicted, "In three years, we could have multiple megawatts of plants out there."

After announcing in late 2007 its quest for "green" energy, the company's Google.org division began investing in solar thermal, geothermal, and wind technologies. The tech firm's keen interest in alternative energy sources was a contributing factor last year when President Obama named Google CEO Eric Schmidt as one of his advisers.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt and its thirty-something founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will again toss themselves a $1 annual salary this year. Their salary compensation has been a single greenback ever since Google went public in 2004.

The three will also forgo the bonuses and stock awards that are given to many of the search giant's 20,000 employees. But the beggar bags should not go out just yet.

Every week, there seems to be a new book that extols the magic of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). There is even a book called What Would Google Do?, which tries to apply Google principles to a range of businesses.

In fact, even with the plunge in the global economy, it seems that Google is impervious to the real world. Right?

Perhaps not. Interestingly enough, there was some negativity from Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt. This is according to a presentation he gave at the Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) tech conference.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

There's no doubt about it -- times are tough. People are struggling to find work and to pay the bills as the value of their homes and savings dwindle. The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer.

Or do they? It's all relative, of course, but world's billionaires have been taking some big hits too. We take a look at Sheldon Adelson, Kirk Kerkorian, and Lakshmi Mittal in their own separate posts, but here are some other billionaires who have lost billions this year (courtesy of Forbes and Business Sheet).

• Brothers Anil and Mukesh Ambani of India's private conglomerate Reliance lost $32.5 billion and $28.2 billion, respectively.
• Warren Buffett, the Sage of Omaha, lost $16.5 billion. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) are down about 32% since the beginning of the year.
• Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen lost $12.3 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively, while CEO Steve Balmer lost $6.5 billion. Shares of Microsoft are down 46% since the beginning of the year.
• Larry Page and Sergey Brin, cofounders of Google Inc. (NYSE: GOOG), lost $11.9 billion and $11.7 billion, respectively, and CEO Eric Schmidt lost $3.8 billion. The share price of Google has fallen 55% since the beginning of the year.
• Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), lost $8.2 billion. Shares of Oracle are down 21% since the beginning of the year.
• Media maven Sumner Redstone lost $7.2 billion. Shares of his private investment firm National Amusements fell 70% this year.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Rick Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), hit out against allegations that the auto maker may soon file for bankruptcy and said he believes the company's financial position will "remain robust" for the rest of the year. Wagoner also said, the Wall Street Journal reported, that the company has no plans to sell or reduce more of its brands.
• An independent Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) would be better for the world, Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt said and the Financial Times reported. Yahoo! will be able to create more competition in the search market and other advertising markets if it stays independent, Schmidt contended.

• According to people briefed on the plan, the New York Times reported that senior Bush administration officials are weighing a plan to have the government take over either Federal National Mortgage Association (NYSE: FNM), or Fannie Mae, or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: FRE), or Freddie Mac -- or both -- and place them in a conservatorship if their problems continue or worsen.
• The New York Times also reported that people briefed on the matter said Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc (NYSE: BUD) is in active talks to sell itself to InBev in a friendly deal, despite previous hostility to the idea. One person said InBev indicated it may be willing to pay more than the $65 per share originally offered.

Frank Quattrone is a legend in tech dealmaking. He got his start in 1981 and has since worked for firms like Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. Some of his deals include the public offerings of Netscape, Cisco Sytems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).

Well, in March, he announced that he has put together a boutique investment bank, Qatalyst Group. His team has advised on more than 400 M&A deals and 350 financings.

Despite being out of the game for some time, Quattrone still has lots of brand power. Interestingly enough, he has already snagged a plum assignment. That is, he will represent Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) CEO, Eric Schmidt, in the intricate battle between Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT). This is a according to a piece in the NYTimes.com.

OK, what will this mean for the fight? It's tough to tell. However, I'm sure Quattrone will devise something interesting. For example, there is already the beginnings of an advertising alliance between Google and Yahoo!

But whatever comes of things, I'm sure Quattrone will get a juicy fee -- and turbocharge his new firm.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.