Social networking giant Facebook has quietly acquired location sharing service Gowalla, according to reports surfacing over the weekend.
Sources close to Gowalla say it’s a done deal, but no insight was provided with regard to how much Facebook coughed up for the purchase.
“We don’t comment on rumor and speculation,” a Facebook rep told CNN in response to the leaked story.
Launched in 2009, Austin-based Gowalla went head-to-head with direct rival Foursquare — and lost. Badly trailing Foursquare in user adoption, Gowalla recently shifted directions, recasting itself as a travel guide.
“It’s a perfect match,” the unnamed source revealed. “As far as the big picture, Gowalla’s vision is about people telling stories, and Facebook’s vision for Timeline is about stories about important moments in life.”
Some Gowalla employees will reportedly remain at the company’s Austin base and work out of Facebook’s regional offices.
What remains to be seen, however, is whether Gowalla’s app will continue to exist in its present form or be removed pending Facebok’s unannounced plans.
Glen Suh
Acquiring Gowalla is a big step for Facebook as they begin to acquire companies and technologies that they believe they can integrate into their platform in order to attract and retain their current loyal user base. Constantly adapting to their dynamically changing environment and keeping up with the competition while keeping their vision consistent.
Glen Suh http://www.tapit.com