Google Announces Wildfire Acquisition

Google announced today that it has purchased Wildfire, a social media marketing startup. Wildfire is only four years old, and since its inception its been helping businesses keep track of their presence across various social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. Neither company is talking about how much Google paid for Wildfire, but AllThingsD says that sources close to the deal reckon the amount is somewhere around $250 million.

Both companies are also being a little unclear about what Wildfire will be doing at Google, but it isn't hard to guess. Google will want to incorporate Wildfire into its social marketing efforts, and Wildfire will likely become an invaluable tool for Google when it comes to expanding those efforts. That being said, Wildfire users can rest assured that the company will continue to offer its current services, as Wildfire says "there will be no changes to our service and support for our customers."

On the Official Google Blog, Product Management Director Jason Miller said that this team up between the search giant and Wildfire will result in more businesses getting involved with their customers. "The ultimate goal is better and fresher content, and more meaningful interactions," Miller wrote. "People today can make their voices heard in ways that were previously impossible, and Wildfire helps businesses uphold their end of the conversation (or spark a new one)."

We can probably expect Wildfire to help Google with the ongoing development of Google Plus at first, but really, the exact plan is only known by those at Wildfire and Google. This isn't the first time Google has attempted to buy a company that focuses on social marketing, however, so you can bet that Google has a plan for Wildfire already formed and ready to be carried out. Stay tuned, because this could turn out to be a major win for the big G.