Google buys social ad firm Wildfire

August 01, 2012 | 09:28

(0) user say

Google said Tuesday it was buying Wildfire, a startup specialising in advertising on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

Google said Tuesday it was buying Wildfire, a startup specializing in advertising on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. (AFP Photo/Kimihiro Hoshino)

Terms were not disclosed, but the Dow Jones website AllThingsD said it was $250 million.

"We're happy to share that the Wildfire team will be joining Google," the tech giant's product management chief Jason Miller said on the Google blog.

"Their co-founders, Victoria Ransom and Alain Chuard, launched their startup just four years ago. Since then, they and their team have built a service that helps businesses like Virgin, Cirque du Soleil, Gilt Group and Spotify manage their social efforts across numerous social websites.

"It's a platform for brands to manage their pages, apps, tweets, videos, sponsorships, ads, promotions and more, all in one place."

Chuard, a former snowboard professional, and Ransom launched the company in 2008, initially to promote a New Zealand travel agency they managed. The firm is now based in Silicon valley.

"Wildfire helps businesses uphold their end of the conversation (or spark a new one)," Miller said.

"In a complex and changing landscape, businesses want to manage and measure these efforts in an integrated way....With Wildfire, we're looking forward to creating new opportunities for our clients to engage with people across all social services. We believe that better content and more seamless solutions will help unlock the full potential of the web for people and businesses."

AFP

What the stars mean:

★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional