#3: Excite Turns Down Google for Under $1 Million
In the late 1990s, internet portals wanted to keep users inside their own busy front pages. Search was useful, but it was not always treated as the main event. That is the setting that makes Excite’s missed opportunity so sharp. Larry Page and Sergey Brin were reportedly willing to sell Google’s search technology for less than $1 million, with one figure often placed around $750,000 after negotiation. Excite already had traffic, advertisers, and a place in the early web.
