Google acquires link management company Kifi to improve Spaces

Google recently added another company to its rapidly growing network of startups.

Kifi, a Mountain View-based knowledge and link management company, has recently been acquired by Google to improve the tech giant’s Spaces platform.

The service launched a little over two years ago and will not carry over into Kifi’s new role within Google. The service will however, remain up and running for the next couple of weeks. Kifi allows groups to share knowledge by sharing links and content in spaces and allowing groups to discuss them.

The news was announced through a post on Medium, in which the Kifi Team announced it would be joining Google’s Spaces team “to build solutions focused on improving group sharing, conversation, and content finding.” The post goes on to express the team’s excitement that Google has found some “space” for them.

Google originally launched Spaces in May as a way for groups to discuss YouTube, videos and files. However, the program was underdeveloped and generated a feeble public interest. While there hasn’t been much talk about the program since then, this acquisition suggests that Google hasn’t given up on its budding content sharing platform just yet.

Another interesting aspect of this purchase is the problem is potentially solves for Spaces. What many found so frustrating about Spaces was its lack of integration with other apps and browsers, therefore forcing the user to open an entirely new app should they want to share and comment on a piece of content.

However, one of Kifi’s best selling points is its cross-browser integration that allows users to save links and content without leaving the browser app they’re currently using.

While it’s still unclear how many members of the Kifi team will be joining Google, and the direction of Spaces is still a little cloudy, this acquisition shines a little more light on Google’s plans for its seemingly forgotten service.

Related reading: Google acquires French machine vision startup to focus on object recognition

[source]Kifi[/source]