Twitter has seen lots of traction lately. But, there is competition, such as from Finland's Jaiku. The company says that it's "an activity stream and presence sharing service that works from the Web and mobile phones."

And, now Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) has just bought the company. In fact, Jaiku is a spring chicken, having been founded in February 2006 (the product launched in July 2006).

No doubt, mobile is key for Google. And, like other areas - such as videos - it's been tough for the company to develop things organically. So, why not buy its way into the space?

Unfortunately, you can't check out the Jaiku service (it's closed to new users right now). And as seen with other Google deals - such as for Jot - it's unclear when we might see it re-emerge (or appear in other Google services).

But, if I were Twitter, I would be quivering.

Also, if you want to check out other M&A deals, click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Micro-blogging service Jaiku snapped up by Google originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.