Story by
Jacob Friedman
Jacob is a tech blogger and IT professional living in Chicago, IL. Follow him on Twitter here, like him on facebook here, or email him here. Jacob is a tech blogger and IT professional living in Chicago, IL. Follow him on Twitter here, like him on facebook here, or email him here.
Hot on the heels of the rollout of the Buzz social networking service, Google has acquired Aardvark for a reported $50 million.
Aardvark, a social search provider and question answering service, will be used to bolster the location-based services introduced with Google Buzz. Aardvark’s search engine scans the profiles of members of the service to help answer topic or location-based questions. For example, a Chicagoan IT professional might often receive questions about Chicago and Computers.
This is a brilliant move that greatly increases the location-based potential of Buzz.
As Aardvark already operates mostly through gChat, and the company was founded by former Googlers, integration into Buzz will not likely be a big issue. Also, given the depth of location-based services promised by Buzz, Aardvark’s localized search promises to add to Buzz’s functionality.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
