Facebook has made several recent, albeit distinct, mobile acquisitions leading up to its initial public offering (IPO). We’ve discussed the acquisitions of Instagram and Tagtile in our previous posts. With its latest acquisition, Facebook has gained a new technology in the “social discovery” space.
A few days ago, Facebook acquired Glancee, a location based and social discovery app for iOS and Android. Glancee matches users based on interests they have in common or that are relevant to one another. The tool aims to reveal hidden connections. According to PC Magazine, Facebook was also interested in Highlight, one of Glancee’s larger competitors.
Another similar transaction this year was Groupon’s acquisition of Ditto.me,
a social recommendation app. Going beyond the check-in feature of many location apps, Ditto.me allows users to ask their friends for suggestions on everything from places they should visit to restaurants they should patronize. As indicated in Berkery Noyes’ first quarter Media and Marketing press release, Groupon has been an active acquirer in 2012, completing five Information Industry transactions so far.
