ReadWriteWeb

Google today announced that it plans to acquire On2, a Clifton Park, NY-based video compression developer in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $106.5 million. In its announcement, Google argues that this acquisition will help the company to "make the overall web experience better for users" and that "video compression technology should be part of the web platform." On2 has a large number of customers for its compression technologies, and the latest version of its video codec, VP8, competes directly with H.264, the most popular format for high-quality video on the web right now.