by CIO Staff

Google Scoops Up JotSpot

News
Oct 31, 20062 mins
Mergers and Acquisitions

Google, the search giant, has acquired Palo Alto, Calif.-based JotSpot, a startup developer of wiki tools—or online collaboration tools—for an undisclosed amount, the Associated Press reports via MSNMoney.com.

The news comes from postings on both Google and JotSpot webpages, according to the AP.

Google Screenshot
Google Screenshot

“Our vision has always been to take wikis out of the land of the nerds and bring it to the largest possible audience,” said JotSpot Chief Executive Officer Joe Kraus, according to the AP. “There is no larger audience that you can reach than one you can reach through Google.”

The Web encyclopedia Wikipedia popularized the concept of wikis, which enable users and groups of users to create, change and erase information contributed by themselves and others.

Google’s JotSpot acquisition closed on Monday, and it follows Google’s early October announcement that it would acquire uber-popular video site YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.

Google also purchased Upstartle in 2006, which produced the Writely word-processing application, according to the AP. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google recently combined the Writely program with its own spreadsheet application.

JotSpot has temporarily suspended any recent registrations while it switches over its operations to Google systems, the AP reports, though existing users can still employ the service. JotSpot also plans to suspend billing for paid accounts, according to the AP.

The wiki tool developer boasts some 30,000 paid customers from 2,000 companies, and about 300,000 Web surfers employ JotSpot’s free offering, which allows users only a certain number of pages and restricts the number of participants within a group, the AP reports.

All 27 of JotSpot’s staffers will make the move to Google’s Mountain View headquarters, according to the AP.

Related Links:

  • Google Launches New Custom Search Service

  • The Enterprise Gets Googled

  • Six Years On, Google Enters Japan Web Top 10

  • Google to Pick Up YouTube in $1.65B Stock Deal

  • Google Writely, Spreadsheets Get Common Platform

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