Deja.com provided a popular Web-based interface to Usenet discussion groups. As well as providing access to current discussions in thousands of topic-oriented groups, Deja.com also began archiving the entire Usenet in 1995.

The purchase of Deja.com gives Google, which has rapidly become one of the world's most popular search engines, immediate access to the huge Usenet archive.

In fact, its plans for the archive are already in action. Google allows searches of Usenet going back six months at http://groups.google.com/ . When the entire archive is searchable, Google says it will enable access to 500 million archived discussion group messages. It also has plans to allow news group posting from its Web interface.

Google will also acquire Deja.com's software, domain names, and trademarks.

Google can be found on the Web, at http://www.google.com/ .