Google Continues Social Acquisition Conquest
According to various reports, Google is buying Jambool and their Social Gold payment product. This move comes on the heels of the search giant snatching up Slide, which points towards Google inching closer and closer to the social gaming space and, as many are writing, a battle against Facebook.
The purchase price, according to reports, is $55 million plus another $15 million -$20 million in an earnout.
Social Gold gives app developers the ability to build payments directly into their games and other applications. The company was was founded by Amazon veterans Vikas Gupta and Reza Hussein, and has raised $6 million in funding.
Google has completed 23 acquisitions since January of last year. Jambool and Slide appears to be part of Google’s focus on social media, and its over-arching goal of learning our social graph to inform and enhance other parts of its business, according to a report.
VentureBeat is reporting that Facebook could be on their heels, as the are reporting that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has declared that the company is on “lockdown” as it tries to site features to compete.
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