Grand video plans at Google

Why would Google (GOOG) would want to buy On2 Technologies (ONT)? To give it a chance to leapfrog Microsoft's Windows Media player and Adobe's Flash Player.

The companies announced Wednesday that Google would buy On2 for $106.5 million in stock. Since On2's video compression technology is two generations newer than Flash Player and YouTube is the largest distributor of video on the Web, it would be a powerful match. Google, which will own both by the end of this year, wouldn't give much more than a hint about its plans for On2.