Sectors · Sector

Search advertising

1 breakdown and 2 tracked deals in this sector, compiled from public reporting.

Disclosed value counts only deals where a figure was made public. Most private equity transactions never are, so treat this as a floor, not a total.

The breakdowns

• Oct 21, 2026

  How does Google make money from free search, and who really pays for it?

  Google Search & other earned $224.5B in 2025, about $615M a day. How the ad auction, the $20B Apple default deal and AI Overviews shape free search.

Who is buying

The deals

1. 2004

   Overture patent suit settlement

   Patent settlement (2.7M Google shares) · Google

   CompletedMail & Guardian — Google–Yahoo patent settlement
2. date t.b.c.

   Overture (formerly GoTo.com)

   Acquisition

   CompletedMail & Guardian — Google–Yahoo patent settlement

Compiled from public reporting. Not investment advice.