Acquisitions (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 Instagram Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquired technology Instagram Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquired technology Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquired technology Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquired technology Minimum Instagram Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquired technology Minimum Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquired technology Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquired technology Maximum Instagram Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquired technology Maximum Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions	Sep. 30, 2012 Tradename and other Instagram Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Tradename and other Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions	Sep. 30, 2012 Tradename and other Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Tradename and other Minimum Instagram Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Tradename and other Minimum Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions	Sep. 30, 2012 Tradename and other Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Tradename and other Maximum Instagram Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Tradename and other Maximum Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents Microsoft Corporation	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents Current Period Acquisition Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents Current Period Acquisition Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents Foreign Microsoft Corporation Patent	Sep. 30, 2012 Patents U.S. Microsoft Corporation Patent	Sep. 30, 2012 Vested Shares Common Class B Instagram Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Unvested Shares Common Class B Instagram Inc.
Business Acquisition
Purchase price of acquisition	$ 521	$ 87
Number of shares issued																											12
Cash paid for business acquisition	300
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Share-based Compensation, Gross																												11
Stock Issued During Period, Value, Share-based Compensation, Gross	194
Stock Issued During Period, Value, Share-based Compensation, Period of Recognition	3 years
Allocation of estimated fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed
Amortizable intangible assets			74	19							63	8
Net liabilities assumed	(1)	(4)
Deferred tax liabilities	(50)	(9)
Net assets acquired	86	14
Goodwill	435	73
Total fair value considerations	521	87
Useful lives (in years)						5 years	3 years		5 years	5 years				2 years	2 years		7 years	3 years
Amount of acquired finite-lived intangible assets																			633
Number of patents acquired																									170	615
Payments to acquire intangible assets																				550
Deferred tax liabilities resulting from acquisition																				$ 49
Useful lives from date of acquisitions (in years)					2 years			10 years					2 years			7 years					3 years	18 years	3 years	17 years