Google first offering of shares was in August 2004, when their shares were worth 85 dollars - less than a quarter of their worth today.
Google will use the cash to fight off competition from Yahoo! and MSN, ensuring that they keep the market share of internet search. Google's plans for the money include buying more small companies as investments to strengthen its reach over the internet.
A recent report found that 42 percent of internet searches are currently performed by Google. As Google is already the market leader by a significant amount, an injection of cash of this scale could see Google's reign over search become untouchable.
