Google Buys Analytics Startup Looker to Bolster Its Cloud

Google said Thursday it was buying data analytics startup Looker in a move aimed at bolstering its cloud services for business.

The deal, worth a reported $2.6 billion, will give the US tech giant an analytics platform used by some 1,700 companies including Sony, Amazon, IBM, Spotify, Etsy and Lyft.

"The addition of Looker to Google Cloud will help us offer customers a more complete analytics solution from ingesting data to visualizing results and integrating data and insights into their daily workflows," said Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian.

"This acquisition builds on an existing partnership between our two companies where we share more than 350 joint customers... who are already using our products together to unlock the value of their business data."

The move comes with Google facing intense scrutiny from antitrust enforcers over its dominant position in search and advertising, and at the same time seeking to expand its base into enterprise services.