Google hires the team behind link management startup Kifi

GOOGLE HAS announced the acquisition of Kifi as the company looks to bolster the recently launched Google Spaces service. The group chat app made by Google fared poorly in the consumer sector, but the deal could turn the tide.

Kifi is a startup that was into building extensions to collect and search links shared in social apps and even provided recommendations for further links. It now stands at around 284 in the United States Play Store and around 577 in the USA iOS App Store. Considering Space’s current focus on group chat, it sounds like this means they could tweak Kifi’s link sharing and link recommendation technology to use them in that context, and to be able to collate them with links from other applications and platforms. The company’s messaging and collaboration efforts have been unconvincing to many, and a solid Spaces app could give the company a much-needed edge.

Google continues its efforts to strengthen its dominant grip on the Web as it prepares for the future of the ever-growing virtual space.

Kifi.will not become part of Google. The service will remain fully functional for existing users for a few more weeks, before its shut down.

Currently, Google’s interest is in group chat. But when I tried to use it, I just didn’t see the point of it – or rather, I couldn’t be bothered to switch to it from other apps I use for group conversations, like WhatsApp with friends and Slack at work. Our team will be joining.Spaces.to build solutions focused on improving group sharing, conversation, and content finding.

Till date, Google has unveiled about around 200 acquisitions. Google’s attempt to go after social again. We created a service that seamlessly enables organising, sharing, discussing and finding the content you and your team value, which has resulted in more flexible and intuitive collaboration across the internet.

The service launched a little over two years ago and will not carry over into Kifi’s new role within Google. As Facebook tries to integrate various search and sharing abilities in its social network to challenge Google, the latter is working on apps equipped with complex, sophisticated tools and access to in-house services that it possesses in abundance. Google Spaces aimed to be the app individuals would use to share content in groups on any topic.