Google Inc. (NDAQ:GOOG) shares received a boost today after the company announced the acquisition of Postini Inc. - a privately held email security money - for $625 million in cash. The move gives Google access to the lucrative market with 35,000 businesses and over 10 million users.

Postini provides security, archiving and encryption products used to protect email, instant messages and other web-based communications. These products have becoming increasingly popular during the past few years as more and more critical business data gets transferred through these channels. Postini is one of the largest companies operating in the sector.

Google made the acquisition in hopes to expand its hosted businesses which are included in its Google Apps lineup. The company claims that over 1,000 businesses are signing up for its Apps products daily, but larger businesses have been reluctant so far to lean away from MS Office. The acquisition of Postini should enable the company to move into these new markets.

The acquisition follows Google's recent strategy to diversify its revenues away from its existing Adsense and Adwords programs as investors remained concerned about its long-term growth prospects. The company's most publicized purchase was a multi-billion dollar deal for DoubleClick Inc. which it hopes will help it to move into the CPM-based banner advertising market. The purchase of Postini should help the company expand its revenues even further into the lucrative business applications market. Combined, these factors make GOOG a stock worth watching!

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