• Media Memo, Monday, April 12, 2010 12:45 PM

For any media or technology company, being acquired by Google has become a rather run-of-the-mill milestone. The latest startup to join the club goes by the name Plink, a mobile visual search tool that specializes in identifying recognized works of art and is expected to help Google Goggles visual search.

As Media Memo put it: "It's Monday, which means that Google has purchased another company." Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it's safe to say it didn't break Google's bank.

"No FTC review here," jokes Search Engine Land's Greg Sterling. Yet, "This acquisition and related engineering talent will no doubt improve Goggles considerably," Sterling said with regard to Google Goggles -- what he calls "a promising but flawed [visual search] platform/app that works only part of the time now."

"On its own, Plink sounds like an entertaining and educational tool, but one whose real-life implementations would probably be limited to a tour of an art museum or a late-night cram session for an Art History exam," writes ReadWriteWeb. "But Google didn't just buy Plink for the art it can identify ... It's likely that Google bought the company more for the algorithm that powers the smart application and brains of those who invented it."

Not afraid to throw its weight around, chief exec Eric Schmidt recently said Google now planned to acquire at least a company a month -- "as well as recruit more staff -- as it expands the company post-recession," notes The Guardian (UK).

Plink being based in the UK, the deal also indicates the Google is looking beyond its boarders for suitable acquisition targets. Indeed, "It's time to be much more optimistic about the European tech startup scene," Anil Hansjee, Google's head of corporate development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, tells The Guardian.

Furthermore, according to The Financial Times: "The Plink acquisition highlights its continuing focus on the mobile platform as it challenges Apple's iPhone for supremacy in the fast-growing smartphone market."

Read the whole story at Media Memo »