Google's largest acquisition was of ITA Software, which makes flight information software. This was an obvious bid to boost its , which offers a non-cluttered experience when compared with similar online properties. Searching on Google Flight Search is notably free of pop-ups and screaming offers to rent cars. It's also fast and doesn't take forever to load.

Ironically, Google looks like it is making money off of competing sites for advertising with this feature through an of each flight search, inviting you to try the same search on other flight sites. The results of the ITA acquisition should result in better trip-planning options.

Zagat: Credibility for Google Places Reviews?

Google spent $151 million on Zagat Survey, the storied maker of the red printed guides that can make or break a restaurant or hotel. Since Google was forced by Yelp and other review sites to pull reviews from Google Places, this move could help replace those reviews with something superior. There isn't much to say about Google's Zagat , but Google Places at least will improve through the addition of Zagat reviews. This is a reasonable assumption, even though Google hasn't made huge strides towards building its own version of Yelp as it has building its own version of Groupon.

As with Google Offers, more merchant control over the review experience would be preferable, such as the Google Places option to you believe to be unfair or from a competitor. Google does check out reviews flagged as inappropriate, while to post a public response to such a review.