Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Goodwill

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill allocated to our disclosed segments for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016 were as follows (in millions):



	Google			Other Bets			Total Consolidated
Balance as of December 31, 2014	$	15,599		$	0		$	15,599
Acquisitions	139			0			139
Foreign currency translation and other adjustments	(71		)	0			(71		)
Allocation in the fourth quarter of 2015	(416		)	416			0
Acquisitions	201			4			205
Foreign currency translation and other adjustments	4			(7		)	(3		)
Balance as of December 31, 2015	$	15,456		$	413		$	15,869
Acquisitions	625			39			664
Foreign currency translation and other adjustments	(54		)	(11		)	(65		)
Balance as of December 31, 2016	$	16,027		$	441		$	16,468

Other Intangible Assets

Information regarding our purchased intangible assets is as follows (in millions):



	As of December 31, 2015
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net Carrying Amount
Patents and developed technology	$	6,592	$	3,213	$	3,379
Customer relationships	1,343		1,201		142
Trade names and other	795		469		326
Total	$	8,730	$	4,883	$	3,847



	As of December 31, 2016
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net Carrying Value
Patents and developed technology	$	5,542	$	2,710	$	2,832
Customer relationships	352		197		155
Trade names and other	463		143		320
Total	$	6,357	$	3,050	$	3,307

Patents and developed technology, customer relationships, and trade names and other have weighted-average remaining useful lives of 4.6 years, 2.3 years, and 4.7 years, respectively. Amortization expense relating to our purchased intangible assets was $1,079 million, $892 million, and $833 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. As of December 31, 2016, $2.6 billion of intangible assets that were fully amortized have been removed from gross intangible assets and accumulated amortization.

During the year ended December 31, 2014, we recorded an impairment charge in other cost of revenues of $378 million related to a patent licensing royalty asset acquired in connection with the Motorola acquisition, which we retained subsequent to the sale of Motorola Mobile. The asset was determined to be impaired due to prolonged decreased royalty payments and unpaid interest owed and was written down to its fair value. Fair value was determined based on a discounted cash flow method and reflects estimated future cash flows associated with the patent licensing royalty asset at the measurement date and falls within level 3 in fair value hierarchy. Impairments of intangible assets were not material for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016.

As of December 31, 2016, expected amortization expense relating to purchased intangible assets for each of the next five years and thereafter was as follows (in millions):



2017	$	764
2018	685
2019	579
2020	487
2021	460
Thereafter	332
	$	3,307

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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