The immensely popular messaging app Snapchat is all set to conquer the search territory with by acquiring mobile search application Vurb. The messaging app is planning to pump in $110 million to acquire the search and discovery app and the deal is in its closing stages.
It reportedly includes team retention payouts wherein Snapchat will offer $75 million to Vurb founder and CEO Bobby Lo in retention bonuses. The $110 million will be paid in 25 percent cash and 75 percent stock.
The San Francisco-based Vurb was established in 2011. It was initially launched as an iPhone app in 2015 but soon expanded its services to Android and Amazon users. Users can use Vurb to search for movies, restaurants and other events.
If a user wants to dine out, Vurb would find relevant information on the restaurant of his choice providing Yelp reviews, directions via Apple Maps and even an Uber ride to the restaurant. The app allows users to organize the information via cards and they can create decks for specific topics.
It is unclear at this stage what Snapchat plans to do with its new acquisition. However, according to The Verge, Snapchat may repurpose Vurb's technology either to integrate it within messages or for future features such as recommendations or discovery.
This is Snapchat's second big acquisition in 2016. It earlier acquired the company behind Bitmoji for about $100 million. The messaging app has already introduced the Bitmoji stickers. Snapchat's face "lenses" are also the result of a buyout when it purchased Ukranian startup Looksery for $150 million in 2015.
Even though Snapchat is now primarily a messaging app, they are slowly expanding with new features including that of Discover that allows users view news stories from partner outlets, writes USA Today.
Snapchat has also become extremely aggressive with advertising, introducing automated advertising tools for companies to purchase video ads. Twitter and Instagram have also taken note of Snapchat's expanding services. While Twitter introduced stickers to its users, Instagram included Stories wherein users may capture moments of the day via photos and videos.
