Google Buys SocialDeck as Gaming Spree Continues

Google's acquisition spree continued with its fifth purchase this month, of social-gaming company SocialDeck. A maker of gaming titles for the iPhone, Facebook and BlackBerry, SocialDeck's titles include Shake & Spell 3D, Color Connect, and Pet Hero Puzzle. Google is expected to emphasize games in its Facebook competitor, called Google Me.
Before the rumors even had a chance to die down in the wake of Google Relevant Products/Services's last acquisition, the search Relevant Products/Services giant snapped up yet another company in the social-gaming space. The acquisition of SocialDeck marks Google's fifth buy in August.

"We're super excited to announce that someone found our social games as much fun as you have -- in this case, that 'someone' is Google," SocialDeck wrote on its web site. "We started this company with the goal of connecting friends through social games on all kinds of exciting new mobile Relevant Products/Services devices."

Google's Gaming Moves

Founded in 2008, SocialDeck's vision is to enable "anywhere, anytime, anyone" gaming. The company has rolled out several social-gaming titles for the iPhone, Facebook and BlackBerry using its gaming platform Relevant Products/Services. Popular titles include Shake & Spell 3D, Color Connect, and Pet Hero Puzzle. The apps are free.

SocialDeck's technology makes possible simultaneous game play across multiple mobile devices and social networks. The technology also facilitates viral content Relevant Products/Services discovery, distribution and monetization. SocialDeck raised its first financing round from the BlackBerry Partners Fund in March 2009. The company was founded by Anish Acharya and Jeson Patel. SocialDeck reached the million-mobile-download milestone in February.

Google purchased Angstro earlier this week. Angstro works to compliment Google's news aggregator services by analyzing a wide breadth of information Relevant Products/Services from multiple data Relevant Products/Services sources to deliver fewer, but more accurate, results. Then there was the Slide acquisition for $182 million. Slide develops apps on social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Its claims to social-gaming fame include SuperPoke!, Pets and Academy of Magic.

Google's Social Hook

Google also recently acquired Jambool, which peddles a virtual economy platform called Social Gold that developers can use to create currency systems and monetize them using in-game payments. Founded by Amazon.com veterans, Social Gold also offers analytics. Social Gold is found in popular Zynga games like Mafia Wars to buy additional loot. Although Facebook hosts Zynga games that use Social Gold, Facebook also has its own virtual currency system called Facebook Credits.

"Google has been investing fairly heavily in games, seemingly as the 'hook' or basis for its renewed social-networking push. It reportedly made an earlier -- though unconfirmed -- $100 million investment in Zynga," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. "SocialDeck is a mobile game developer, suggesting that mobile is also a key piece of Google's social strategy -- as I would expect it to be, given Android's success."

Google also launched Google Social Search in January to help searchers find relevant web content published by friends and contacts. Google has been making improvements since then, such as using public URLs. Google expanded social search by using additional links that appear in the Buzz tab of a searcher's Google profile.

Some observers are speculating that the web's 800-pound gorilla is getting more serious about social networking with a planned Facebook competitor called Google Me. The hubbub started when Digg founder Kevin Rose sent a tweet reporting Google is getting ready to launch a social network called Google Me. Google has not confirmed or denied the speculation, but keeps snapping up social-gaming companies.

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