Google buys polling startup for Google+ integration

Today, Google is announcing they've made another acquisition, this time in a startup named Polar. If you're unfamiliar, don't worry — the company focusses on online polls, not an app you're missing out on. It's being reported that Polar will be cobbled into Google+, suggesting that Google is, at least in some respect, forging ahead with its social layer.

It's not exactly clear where Polar's team will fit in, but it's not the first time Google has been involved with polls. Their Google Opinion Rewards app makes quick work of gathering opinions from users, offering up Play Store credit for taking the time to answer questions.

It's possible that Google will take Polar's services and make them part of their Google+ ad space efforts, which is Google's way of linking Plus posts to ads elsewhere online. By creating another layer for interaction, those like Toyota are more likely to use Plus as a means to their advertising end. Re/Code is reporting that Polar's team will work on Google+ mobile design, but that's not been officially announced.

As Google moves to pull parts of Plus away from Google, this move is a bit of a curiosity, which is why I think it has to do with ad space. It seems to offer little for the average user, but holds quite a bit of benefit to the enterprise space, which seems to be the direction Google+ is headed these days.

Source: Google