Google Buys Fridge
That was fast. Google's new social network is still in limited release, but the search giant has already seen fit to bolster Plus with an acquisition. According to Business Insider, Google has gobbled up social group star-tup Fridge to help give Google+ a better chance at challenging Facebook.
"It's an interesting move for Google+, whose signature feature is its Circles, which are managed by each user rather than as collaborative groups," writes All Things Digital. "Starting next week, [Fridge founder Austin Chang's] four-person team will be working on Google+ from New York," BI reports. "Come August, most of them will relocate to Google's Mountain View office."
A Y-Combinator start-up that reportedly raised $800,000, Fridge has just 40,000 monthly uniques, while more than 20,000 groups have been formed among them, where users can share videos, instant messages, pictures, polls and events with close friends.
"Part of Fridge's appeal was the granularity of control possible for customizing what each group could see," writes Slash Gear. "As well as segmenting updates between the different groups, it was possible to set different names and profile photos that each group would see."
"Right now, Google+ is asymmetric," Chang tells BI. "We're going to help them create shared spaces."
"Groups for Google+ have actually been a part of the plan for a while, said a person familiar with Google's product development," adds All Things Digital. "Internally at least, groups for Google+ have been known as 'shared circles.'"Recent Around the Net In Online Marketing Articles
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