Google and Apple aren’t the only high-profile companies gobbling up smaller outfits in the tech space. Facebook is getting in on the acquisition game with the purchase of nextstop.
The startup is a web 2.0 service that lets people create and browse through local guides. Essentially, it’s a travel recommendation site — and one that may not live on.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Apparently, Facebook was more enamored with the nextstop’s engineering team than with the travel recommendation notion. Former Google engineers Carl Sjogreen and Adrian Graham founded the company.
A Location Platform?
Still, analysts aren’t ruling out the possibility of Facebook integrating the technology into its social network, especially given Google’s recent interest in travel with its ITA acquisition. In fact, some are betting on it. For now, Facebook is shutting down the site.
“Facebook is obviously planning on launching some sort of location platform or product offering. This has all but been formally acknowledged,” said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.
“The company appeared to buy nextstop to bring the founders and their team in-house to contribute to or lead that development,” he added. “There are many things that Facebook can do in local and with location. The nextstop product, though it’s being shuttered, may give some directional indication of what Facebook is thinking along those lines.”
What’s Next for nextstop?
When nextstop launched just more than two years ago, the founders had a dream to make it easier to discover great things to do anywhere in the world. Company executives feel joining forces with Facebook will forward that goal.
“This creates a number of big changes for the nextstop product and our community, but we believe it’s an opportunity for some of the ideas behind nextstop to reach Facebook’s audience of more than 400 million users and have a much…