Google (I call them the Big G) has been one of the leading lions of the Internet jungle always looking out for preys to capture. Could you believe that Google bought 19 start-ups in 2007?

Google’s most recent start-up acquisitions were Begun (online advertising) from Russia for $140 million; Omnisio (Online video) from the US for $15 million; and TNC, a weblog software from South Korea for an undisclosed amount. Google’s largest acquisition as of March 2008 is the purchase of DoubleClick, an online advertising company, for US$3.1 billion.

Most Internet startups and their founders always dream of a multimillion-dollar buyout or the lucrative initial public offers. While it may seem impossible, we’d all love to think that Internet giants such as Google, Yahoo! or Microsoft would soon be acquiring web startups out of Africa. The search company has footprints in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, South Korea and of course the United States.

Why not any African country?

Well with recent startup acquisitions from South Africa such as Zoopy by Vodacom and Afrigator by MIH Group/Naspers, we can somehow hope that the world is watching. That’s why StartupsNigeria is dedicated to covering web startups as well as web technologies and applications from Nigeria, in order to encourage huge companies to engage Nigerian entrepreneurs.

Recently, at the TieCon conference in Santa Clara, California, corporate development officers from the Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft discussed their acquisition strategies on a panel with Tod Francis, managing director of Shasta Ventures.

Here is a recap of the panel discussions:

From Google: the start-up needs to be ahead of Google’s internal curve in a given market, such as video (YouTube) or display advertising technology (DoubleClick), according to David Lawee, Google’s vice president of corporate development.

From Microsoft: the software giant is scouting for advertising platforms that can augment its own technology, as well as networks that aggregate audiences, according to Tivanka Ellawala, general manager of Corporate Development at Microsoft. He said that 10 of Microsoft’s last 20 buyouts were related to the Internet and that the company is also interested in mapping technologies.

From Yahoo: the Internet company casts a wide net when it comes to scouting for start-ups, but it looks for “really good companies”, according to Michael Burnett, senior director of global mergers and acquisitions for Yahoo. Last year, he said, the company looked at 500 companies, put 50 on a short list, fully examined 20, and finally acquired 9 companies.

At StartupsNigeria.com, we believe that these three Internet giants are interested in start-ups from Africa. While we wait for an African start-up that would get the world’s attention, we recommend that you keep visiting this blog for more startup news and tips.