Google's secondary offering late Wednesday raised $4.18 billion - cash likely to be used for rapid expansion and new services, writes Red Herring. The 14,159,265 additional shares were priced at $295, 2.7 percent below the stock's closing price of $303. Google's stock had risen from about $280 since the follow-on offering was announced on August 18, the anniversary of Google's IPO. Google already had about $3 billion in cash, and there has been widespread speculation about what it might do with the additional funds.

According to some, it may acquire Chinese search leader Baidu, which lost 28 percent in value on Wednesday when analysts said it was overvalued. It is now worth around $2.64 billion.

Google holds a 2.6 percent stake in Baidu and is the number-two search player in China. An acquisition would make it the dominant search player in the world's fastest-growing internet market, writes Red Herring.