The Money Man Behind Rick Santorum: Who Is Foster S. Friess?
Savings Experiment: Snow Removal
Google (GOOG) has gone ga-ga over social-networking acquisitions, with deals for Slide, Like.com, Metaweb and Jambool. Desperately trying to go beyond its advertising business, the company sees big-time growth opportunities in the sector. However, Google is late to the game -- and its home-grown efforts have been lackluster, such as Buzz, Google Wave and Orkut.
Well, the latest social networking deal for Google is a tiny startup, Angstro. Actually, it's not a social network. Instead, the company has a system to pull information from various sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and so on. With this, Angstro can do things like improve Caller ID, as well as create a real-time social address book.
Another key to the deal is the strong talent. For example, the founder, Rohit Khare, is a renowned expert in social media and search. According to a blog blog post, he said he sold-out to Google because of its social media strategy (although, I'm sure the price tag was compelling as well).
He will certainly be a big help in Google's efforts to create a social network (reportedly called Google Me). Of course, there is much secrecy surrounding it. But then again, its clear that Google is extremely serious about the space and wants to stunt the momentum of Facebook.
Tom Taulli is also the author of several books, including the Complete M&A Handbook, as well as the upcoming All About Short Selling.
Goldman Earnings Sink After Buffett Dividend
Johnson & Johnson's Income Falls 23%
Burberry Shares Leap on Sales Update
