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A minor point, but they certainly do not have $36B cash on hand, they have it in assets that can be liquidated reasonably quickly, but companies do not keep $36B lying around, or in the bank. It is stashed in short term investments.

"Cash – As of December 31, 2010, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $35.0 billion."

http://investor.google.com/earnings/2010/Q4_google_earnings....

what investors refer to as 'cash on hand' doesn't literally mean a room full of bills or a bank account. a 'cash asset' is anything that can be theoretically converted back into cash quickly and with little trouble (tbills, term deposits, bank accounts, any AAA+ funds, etc.)

for eg. if the Greek government owed me $1B, I wouldn't call that cash on hand, but if the US government owed me $1B, it is

Not just any short-term investments: I think they have to be with investment banks, or invested in certain highly liquid, highly rated vehicles such as money market accounts, treasury bills, or short-term AAA-rated government debt.

According to the article, they bid up through $4 billion but eventually "tapped out".

If I read correctly, they actually bid up to 4 billion before dropping out.