Google Inc. missed out on prized daily discounter Groupon Inc. in 2010, but it still acquired far more start-ups owned by venture capital firms than any other company last year.

 
      Dow Jones VentureSource In fact, it’s the first time that Google has headed the annual list of most venture-backed acquisitions, according to research firm Dow Jones VentureSource.

      Google acquired 10 U.S. venture-backed companies this past year (see list below), double the amount of the next most-active acquirers on the list. Its acquisitions ranged from larger land grabs like AdMob Inc., the mobile ad network that sold for $750 million, to small scoops like the acquisition of 15-month-old online travel-guide service Ruba Inc. (VentureSource only counts deals that have closed, so Google’s deal to buy ITA Software Inc. for $700 million - which the Department of Justice is scrutinizing - doesn’t make the cut.)

      Google chief Eric Schmidt lived up to his word after telling analysts on a conference call in October 2009, “We’re open for business, making strategic acquisitions, both large and small.”

      The Internet is certainly bankers’ heaven right now - three of the top four most-active acquirers are all Web companies. The other two are themselves backed by venture firms: Google’s fast-growing foe Facebook Inc. placed second in 2010 with five deals, tying it with the venerable International Business Machines Inc., while four-year-old Zynga Inc. is fourth with four deals.

      Expect Facebook to step up its acquisition pace, now that it has raised hundreds of millions in more capital from Goldman Sachs. Its executives say the company plans to acquire more than 10 companies this year.

      The top acquirer of 2009, Oracle Corp., which bought five venture-backed companies that year, only made two deals in 2010. But we’ll cut Oracle some slack since it spent $7.4 billion in January to buy Sun Microsystems while also acquiring several other non-venture-backed companies.

Google made three acquisitions in 2009, good for third place, and ranked ninth overall from 2000 to 2009. It has now vaulted to fourth place on the most-active acquirer list with 25 deals since 2000. Cisco Systems Inc. remains king with 51 venture-backed acquisitions since 2000, though it only made three deals in 2010 and two in 2009.