14 DAY TRIAL // Google has acquired the team behind the Sparkbuy comparison shopping site. Sparkbuy was barely six months old and offered a way for users to narrow down their searches for a new laptop or other gadgets based on some clear and intuitive criteria. The site has been shut down, but the three-person team will start working on improving Google's own product search tools.
"We are pleased as punch to announce that Sparkbuy has been acquired by Google," a message on the Sparkbuy website reads.
"When we built Sparkbuy way back in the waning days of 2010, we wanted to make it really easy to find the gadget that’s perfect for your needs," the team wrote.
"But when people started actually using Sparkbuy, we started to see that the opportunity was bigger," the notification read.
Google isn't saying much, other than the fact that it's very happy to have the team working for the company. There aren't any definite plans for Sparkbuy, but it doesn't look like the site will be relaunched at some point.
Most likely, the team will start working with Google to help with its own product comparison tools. However, it may be working on something completely new, as the message left on Sparkbuy is a bit ambiguous.
"So when Google showed up and suggested we could work together to turbocharge our efforts, we just couldn't pass it up," the message reads.
"We’re stoked about the opportunity to share our vision for search with a broader audience. And while we won't be offering services at sparkbuy.com any more, stay tuned for truckloads of new awesome from our team at Google," the team added.
The Seattle-based startup only launched last November. At the time, it aimed to simplify the task of finding the perfect laptop for your needs. The approach and UI choices were well received by those that tried out the site and it seems that Google took notice as well.