While many may question if photo-sharing application Instagram was worth $1 billion, others are questioning why Google didn't buy the hipster app in an attempt to stay young and relevant.
Facebook's acquisition happened so quickly that no one else, including Google, could get in on the bidding, according to Business Insider. While Google cites 100 million active users on Google+ in the last nine months, Instagram could have given them "an alternative social network" of 30 million users on mobile -- something which has never been Facebook's forte.
So what's left for Google? There's still Path, a kind of murky social network with 2 million users, but it is pretty and has lots of buzz. Is it worth millions? That's another question. Last year Google tried to buy the social network with a 50-person limit for $100 million but was turned down. Perhaps with a $500 million offer, Path's refusal could change.
But maybe it doesn't need to buy anything. Google already has a lot of resources behind it. So perhaps it should put its Google X lab engineers to work and create a worthy competitor for both Instagram and Path. If not, there are always new apps and new talent coming into the market.
