IndustryGoogle Buys Electronics Search Engine Sparkbuy

Google Buys Electronics Search Engine Sparkbuy

Google Buys Sparkbuy

Sparkbuy, a consumer electronics search engine and comparison shopping startup, today announced that it has been bought by Google. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sparkbuy has ceased operations and the three-person team (CEO Dan Shapiro, Scott Haug, and Isaac Myers) will join Google’s Kirkland, Washington office.

The Seattle Times reported that they’ll be working on Google’s new mortgage, credit card, and bank account comparison site Advisor, which launched last week.

Built in late 2010 and launched just two months ago in March, Shapiro created the VC and angel-backed Sparkbuy because “using traditional search engines such as Bing and Google to search for laptops, TVs or other electronics is kind of like trying to find a ‘needle in a haystack.’” Sparkbuy is to consumer electronics search what Expedia or Kayak are to travel search.

“We’re thrilled that Sparkbuy will be joining Google,” Google said in a statement. “They have built an impressive comparison shopping site that is simple in design yet powerful for consumers, and we think their expertise, vision and energy will be a great addition to our Kirkland office.”

This message greeted Sparkbuy’s visitors:

We are pleased as punch to announce that Sparkbuy has been acquired by Google.

I know, right? We can hardly believe it ourselves.

When we built Sparkbuy way back in the waning days of 2010, we wanted to make it really easy to find the gadget that’s perfect for your needs. Our idea was that you could combine huge piles of structured data with an intuitive interface, et voila: a few clicks to find the electronics widget with exactly the features you want. Have you tried to find a great laptop or TV recently? Crazy hard.

But when people started actually using Sparkbuy, we started to see that the opportunity was bigger. In fact, it was much, much bigger. There are so many “crazy hard” search problems out there we know it could take ages for us to deliver what our customers are asking for. So when Google showed up and suggested we could work together to turbocharge our efforts, we just couldn’t pass it up.

We’re stoked about the opportunity to share our vision for search with a broader audience. And while we won’t be offering services at sparkbuy.com any more, stay tuned for truckloads of new awesome from our team at Google.

Thanks for coming by!

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