• Google Acquires Visual Search Engine Plink

    Date: 2010.04.12 | Category: Google News

    Search engine giant Google, the California based company behind the popular Android OS, has acquired mobile visual search technology maker Plink, making it its first UK takeover ever. The acquisition is a part of Google’s plan to acquire at least one company every month.

    Plink, which was founded by Mark Cummins and James Philbin, is the creator of PlinkArt, a visual search app which is designed to analyse and recognise paintings of famous artists and allows users to share the photo with their friends and even buy a poster version of the art work.

    With the acquisition of Plink, Google will look to expand is Google Goggles visual service, which allows users to search via clicking pictures from their Android smartphones.

    Interestingly, according to the developers of the app, PlinkArt had seen 50,000 downloads within 6 weeks of being launched .The company was also said to be in talks with several major art galleries and museums for a possible partnership.

    Commenting on the acquisition by Google, the developers of the app, who will be working with the Google Goggles team, wrote on the official PlinkArt blog that “Google has already shown that it’s serious about investing in this space with Google Goggles, and for the Plink team the opportunity to take our algorithms to Google-scale was just too exciting to pass up.”

    Originally published on ITProPortal.com