时间:2025-12-22 02:05:51 来源:网络整理编辑:探索
Snapchat is continuing on its quest to redefine mobile.The mobile storytelling app is acquiring Vurb
Snapchat is continuing on its quest to redefine mobile.
The mobile storytelling app is acquiring Vurb, a search and discovery app, for $100 million in a cash and stock deal, according to The Information.
First, it was disappearing messages. Then, it was vertical video. Next, Snapchat could bring more to search.
Founded in 2011, Vurb attempted to make search more mobile-friendly, digestible and shareable by converting results into mobile cards. All within one app, users could search for a place, see the related information and save it for later or send it to a friend. Other categories included movies, TV, video and music.
SEE ALSO:Instagram Stories doesn't mean Snapchat will disappearThe ambitions were clearly to take on search giant Google. Vurb is “very different than traditional search with 10 blue links," founder Bobby Lo told TechCrunchlast year.
For Snapchat, Vurb's technology could align with its own ambitions to capture more eyeballs and ad dollars from Google, Facebook and other apps through improving third-party content and personalization. The news comes shortly after Facebook's Instagram released a nearly identical copy of Snapchat's core feature, Stories.
"I don't think this is about any old mobile search engine," Ian Schafer, CEO and founder of ad agency DeepFocus, told Mashable in an email. "The experience / place nature of Vurb seems to fit nicely into the technological direction Snapchat is heading toward."
"I don't think this is about any old mobile search engine"
That includes deep-linking to other apps and sites, as demonstrated by Snapchat's ticket purchasing ad for X-Men: Apocalypse. Vurb is connected to Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Google Maps, Netflix and Uber, for example.
Snapchat is also interested in selling and showing ads based on object recognition, as revealed in a recent patent application.
"A search engine geared around place-based intent like Vurb would help take Snapchat closer to that vision when paired with their already impressive visual recognition technology," Schafer said.
Not unlike Foursquare's pitch, Vurb recommends services that are "personalized for you in one simple app," according to its website. Those recommendations are based on interests, trending topics, time, weather and locations, the website reads. That idea could soon be matched with Snapchat's abundance of photos and videos.
Snapchat hasn't been shy about acquisitions. Earlier this year, the company acquired Bitmoji for $100 million, which it recently integrated into the app. Snapchat spent $150 million on facial recognition app Looksery to support its lenses technology last year, TechCrunchreported.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
TopicsGoogleSnapchat
You will love/hate Cards Against Humanity's new fortune cookies2025-12-22 02:00
The notoriously cheerful baby Asahd Khaled wept at the sight of Justin Bieber2025-12-22 01:54
NASA concept video shows how we might save Earth from rogue asteroids2025-12-22 01:49
Oreos releases a Dunkin Donuts Mocha2025-12-22 00:48
Honda's all2025-12-22 00:32
'StarCraft Remastered' brings back '90s nostalgia this August2025-12-22 00:30
Iranian city reaches 129.2 degrees, setting national and world records2025-12-22 00:19
Here's everything you need to know about the Trump2025-12-22 00:11
Plane makes emergency landing after engine rips apart during flight2025-12-21 23:53
How to use Facebook's new mobile Find Wi2025-12-21 23:29
Tourist survives for month in frozen New Zealand wilderness after partner dies2025-12-22 02:04
Researchers are solving the mysteries of a 652025-12-22 01:56
Researchers are solving the mysteries of a 652025-12-22 01:54
This laptop sleeve says it can charge your computer, phone, and tablet at the same time2025-12-22 01:52
Uber's $100M settlement over drivers as contractors may not be enough2025-12-22 01:32
Mysterious Frankenstein2025-12-22 01:09
Chicken salad at Whole Foods recalled for not containing ... chicken2025-12-22 01:07
'Hearthstone' gets all cold and deadly this August2025-12-22 00:56
Honda's all2025-12-22 00:33
Oh boy, Florida residents can now challenge the science taught in public schools2025-12-21 23:25