Google Likey: Search Giant Continues Shopping Spree With Like.com Acquisition
Like.com confirmed the acquisition in a statement posted on the Like.com web site. While the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, some reports estimate it could be worth around $100 million.
"Since 2006, Like.com has been moving the frontiers of eCommerce forward one step at a time," wrote Like.com CEO and founder Munjal Shah. "We were the first to bring visual search to shopping, the first to build an automated cross-matching system for clothing, and more. We didn't stop there, and don't have plans to stop now. We see joining Google as a way to supersize our vision and supercharge our passion."
Like.com uses visual search technology that pairs consumers with clothing based on their style. The acquisition gives Google Like.com's technology, which Google will likely adapt for other visual search queries besides fashion. Google has not yet outlined how it plans to use Like.com's search technology.
The Like.com buy continues a shopping spree for Google, which in the past few weeks has made a handful of key acquisitions to bulk up its social media and search presence. The Like.com purchase also falls in line with other recent Google acquisitions, including the purchase of visual art search engine Plink in April, which has been adapted to leverage Google Goggles, a Google Android application that lets users search for information about items by snapping a photo of it with their smartphones. Google and its venture capital arm have also invested in Pixazza, a company that helps web users buy products they see in photos on the web.
Google's acquisition of Like.com is the third acquisition this month for Google, continuing Google's acquisition momentum for 2010 and pushing its number of acquisitions this year to more than a dozen. Earlier this month Google acquired Slide Inc., which develops social networking entertainment applications. In the same week, Google acquired virtual currency platform developer Jambool.