Google CEO sees one small acquisition a month

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Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:24pm BST

* Schmidt says Google acquisition activity back to normal

* Sees one small deal a month; larger deals unpredictable

* Says worst of global recession is behind us

* Sees improvement in U.S. and abroad

PITTSBURGH, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O) Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said acquisitions are "turned on again" at the Internet company and expects to do one small deal a month instead of hiring new staff.

Schmidt also reiterated his view that the worst of the global recession is over, seeing improvement both inside and outside the United States.

"It's clear that the worst is behind us," Schmidt told Reuters Television in an interview on Wednesday, ahead of delivering a speech on green technology on the fringes of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"What we see at Google is some level of improvement and what is more important is we see it not just in the United States but outside the United States," he said.

Schmidt also said acquisition activity was returning to normal at his company. Google has historically maintained a steady pace of acquiring small, privately held companies but its deal machine took a breather earlier this year when Schmidt said that prices were too high for his liking.

"Acquisitions are turned on again at Google and we are doing our normal maneuvers, which is small companies. My estimate would be one-a-month acquisitions and these are largely in lieu of hiring," Schmidt said.

"There may be larger acquisitions but they really are unpredictable."

(Reporting by Mark Egan, writing by Tiffany Wu, editing by Matthew Lewis)

((tiffany.wu@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 646 223 6142; Reuters Messaging: tiffany.wu.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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