What companies does this man want to buy?

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt made some news this week when he told Japan's Nikkei that the search titan has "begun seriously looking into acquisitions again." That should get the attention of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, since M&A activity has slowed considerably this year.

So who might Google buy? I've not heard of any specific deals in Seattle, but with large engineering offices here it wouldn't surprise me if the company is at least sniffing around. Anyway, here are five possible candidates that came to mind.

AdReady: Industry watchers have said that Google lags in display advertising. A purchase of AdReady -- backed by Madrona Venture Group, Bain Capital, Khosla Ventures and others -- could provide some technical strength in an arena it is getting more serious about.

Until recently, AdReady had a direct connection to the executive ranks at Google since former DoubleClick CEO David Rosenblatt -- who left his executive role at Google in April -- sits on AdReady's advisory board.

Working against the deal is the fact that AdReady just inked a display advertising partnership with Yahoo, though that actually could make Google even more interested. But there's also the hang-up that some of AdReady's customers (Msnbc.com and The New York Times) might not like the idea of a Google-owned AdReady. But this could make things easier: AdReady's headquarters is just a few blocks from Google's engineering office in the Fremont neighborhood.

TechFlash odds: 10-1

Brian Bershad

Skytap: Google Seattle site director Brian Bershad should be very familiar with Skytap. After all, he founded the cloud computing startup and served as its first CEO when he was a University of Washington computer science professor.

Obviously, Bershad -- who still serves as a director -- thinks the company is doing some interesting stuff. Skytap, which raised a $7 million venture round six months ago, is developing an easy way for corporations to test software and hardware configurations in the cloud. With one of the world's largest software engineering teams, Google alone could utilize that service.

TechFlash odds: 3-1

Gist: Gist is trying to solve a real-world problem: helping people with information overload. Since Google wants to organize the world's information, why don't the two just get together and solve both problems at once?

It looks good on paper, and if Google made its move now it could buy some technology before Gist is formally released in the market. Google is certainly investing in this arena, with announcement of Google Wave in May. At the time of that deal, we asked: "Will Google Wave Crash on Gist?" Maybe so, in the form of an acquisition.

TechFlash odds: 25-1

Zillow.com or San Francisco's Trulia: It will be interesting to see whether Google goes after vertical search engines in niche markets like real estate, a move that it hasn't really pursued to date. As Galen Ward noted in a guest post for TechFlash last month, Google instead appears more interested in using its powerful position in online search to muscle in on new markets on its own.

But the tables may turn if Bing continues to grab market share. In fact, last year, Microsoft jumped into the online travel search business with a surprise acquisition of Seattle's Farecast, which later became Bing Travel. An acquisition of Zillow or Trulia would put a big stake in the sand in online real estate -- a category that has some of the most expensive CPM rates.

TechFlash odds: 30-1

Jonathan Sposato

Picnik: I am not ware of any major acquisitions of Seattle companies by Google in recent years, except for Phatbits in 2005. Phatbits founder Jonathan Sposato now has a new startup company which is generating quite a bit of buzz: Picnik. The online photo editing tool competes against Google's Picasa.

But in a way, Picnik actually makes more sense for Google than Picasa does.

After all, Picasa is downloadable software (so old school) whereas Picnik is an online service.

actually would fit quite nicely with the company certainly fits with Google's mission

Could Sposato do it again?

TechFlash odds: 15-1

Of course, none of these deals may come to pass. And there may be others that make more sense since Google has its tentacles in so many different businesses. Who do you think Google will buy?