Google,Acquires,SocialDeck,Wha DIY Google Acquires SocialDeck - What Does this Mean for Google
When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in
It seems that in recent times, Google has made some mistakes whencoming up with new programs. Google Accelerator, Google Answers, and GoogleWave are all examples of programs that flopped. And with the recent merger ofYahoo and Bing, Google might be losing its grip on the search engine monopoly.However, it seems that Google may have something up its sleeve. Recentacquisitions reveal that the Internet giant has big plans for their socialnetwork platform that is currently under development. And it seems they aretaking every measure to ensure that this next project of theirs wont be aflop, and can even rival social media giant Facebook.This is evident by the fact that Google recently purchased social gamingdeveloper SocialDeck, which is one of five acquisitions made in August. Thepopular games created by SocialDeck, such as Pet Hero and Color Connect, areavailable across a variety of platforms, including Blackberry, iPhone, andFacebook. SocialDeck uses their own social gaming platform technology, whichenables simultaneous game play across mobile devices and social networks.With the acquisition of SocialDeck, Google will be able to integrateSocialDeck's games into their future social network. In addition, Google islooking to either purchase or work out deals with other social gaming companieswhich work over multiple platforms, such as Zynga, Playdom, and Playfish, whichall currently produce games popular on Facebook, such as Mafia Wars.It seems Google may have some big plans in store. Chris Morrison ofInsideSocialGames.com mentioned the possibility that Google is working on aviral platform for the web and its own mobile devices, like Android. Earlierthis summer, Google purchased social application developer Slide, and also haspurchased other companies involved in social gaming and other aspects of socialnetworking. Just days before acquiring SocialDeck, Google purchased Angstro,which developed Knx.to, an address book that combines a user's connections fromsocial networks. Google also has acquired Jambool, which makes "virtualcurrency," and visual shopping engine Like.com. Each acquisition is anotherpiece to the puzzle of what Google is planning.Google's activity has been generating a lot of buzz over the Internet. Manyspeculate, "Will this social network," rumored to be called Google Me, "be theultimate social network? Will it dethrone Facebook as king of social media?" While the growing popularity of Facebook caused many people to flee fromMySpace, there is no guarantee we'll see people fleeing from Facebook to joinGoogle Me in the same manner, but it's certainly a possibility. With confusingand ever-changing privacy policies, some Facebook users might be eager to makethe transition to a new social network. There are also rumors that the wayFacebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was negatively portrayed in box-office smashThe Social Network might turn away Facebook users if they have another optionfor social media. While some are predicting success for Google, others are not so optimistic.Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of Search Engine Land, has taken note ofGoogle's unsuccessful attempts at social media, such as Google Buzz, anddoesn't foresee Google Me as an instant success. He states, "So far, Google'sfailed to have a hit in the social-networking space, swinging and largelymissing with both Orkut and Buzz. It's unclear whether a third, new service (ora renamed Buzz) will do that much better."Negative press regarding Google Buzz alone has caused some to be doubtful thatGoogle can gain a foothold in the realm of social media. Harry McCracken, thefounder of tech site Technologizer.com, believes that the failure of Buzz showsthat people may not want their relationship with Google to be a foundation forsocial networking.When Google's social platform emerges, possibly later this year, we'll see howthese applications integrate and whether or not Google will achieve the successit's after. If Google has made wise choices and can provide a social site thatprovides users what they want, and has features not found on Facebook,including clear-cut privacy policies, Google Me just might prove to not beanother Google Wave.
Google,Acquires,SocialDeck,Wha