For years, we have worried that Web search engine companies were unstable, that their commercial advertising-supported model would collapse. Recent months have seen these threats of instability replaced by threats of too much commercial emphasis. Or, perhaps not. All of these companies can use deeper pockets behind them, if those deep pockets are committed to improving search effectiveness. That is the unknown.
Research costs money.
It also requires the willingness to take risks and to be wrong. That depends on why they have all been snapped up. If they are allowed to pursue their experiments and their quest for improved retrieval tools, then extra funding will help them concentrate on that task. If they are to be used as cash cows, then probably they will start playing it safe. They may cater to investors, or sell the right to be listed in the top 10 sites retrieved.