Google Purchases Aardvark To Round Out Buzz

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.