Google Gobbles Up PostRank in Surprise Acquisition in the Mobile Social Space

On Friday, it was confirmed that Google has acquired PostRank, which calls itself “the largest aggregator of social engagement data” in the analytics industry. In short, PostRank enables social media users to measure and monitor the reach of their content – like Facebook posts and Tweets – across the Internet.

Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, Google’s intentions are obvious. The Internet search giant is ramping up its focus on all things social. And the acquisition of PostRank could prove a vital component of the company’s burgeoning social strategy.

“We know that making sense of social engagement data is crucial for online businesses,” the PostRank team posted on their website Friday, “which is why we’ve worked hard to monitor where and when content generates meaningful interactions across the web. Indeed, conversations online are an important signal for advertisers, publishers, developers and consumers — but today’s tools only skim the surface of what we think is possible.”

“We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished,” the post concluded, “and we now look forward to working with Google’s team to build more useful tools for measuring engagement online, and we’ll be sure to share details on our progress in the coming months.”

“We’re always looking for new ways to measure and analyze data, and as social analytics become increasingly important for online businesses, we’re excited to work with the PostRank team to make this data more actionable and accountable,” a Google representative tells Tech Crunch. “They have developed an innovative approach to measuring web engagement, and we think they can help us improve our products for our users and advertisers.”