• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, January 14, 2014

The names Branch and Potluck might seem like events written into a whimsical children's novel, but the models for these two services from Branch Media are anything but childlike. In fact, the sister companies are backed, in part, by Twitter cofounders Evan Williams and Biz Stone.

Branch, a link-sharing service, and Potluck, a Web and mobile app designed for friends to hand out and talk about online stuff, now belong to Facebook. In a Facebook post, Branch Media CEO Josh Miller explains that the original 9-person team will remain in New York, but also build Facebook's Conversations group based in New York City.

The Conversation group will help people connect with others around their interests. Sources familiar with the deal told The Verge that Facebook acquired the company for about $15 million.

Facebook branched out and so did MediaPost. It's all about the conversation and content. Now search marketers have their own MediaPost publication: Search Marketing Daily. 

Inside Search Marketing Daily you'll find Search Blog, along with search-related articles and tidbits from around the net. So if there's someone or something of interest you want to read about, drop me a note at sullivan@mediapost.com. Talk soon!