Google created a lot of buzz in the blogosphere today with the news of its recent buyout of Sparrow. Sparrow is a popular email productivity app for Mac and iPhone and its acquisition by Google will certainly help Google enhance its Gmail experience on Mac and iPhone. Google will keep the Sparrow app alive but no new major updates would be rolled out for the native Sparrow, instead, Sparrow’s team would sync up with Google’s team to develop “a bigger version”.
Sparrow‘s CEO wrote on the company’s official website:
“We’re excited to announce that Sparrow has been acquired by Google! We care a lot about how people communicate, and we did our best to provide you with the most intuitive and pleasurable mailing experience. Now we’re joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.”
Sparrow is a widely popular email client for Mac and iPhone and it provides users with a hefty alternative to default mail apps. It is available in both free (ad-supported) and paid (9.99$) versions. Up until now, Sparrow‘s work has been completely Apple-centric but Google’s acquisition clearly hints at strong Android influence in the near future in the form of a new Sparrow-derived email app.
Just not long ago Google pulled back its iOS app for Gmail due to bad user experience and bugs, but now with Sparrow’s team working together with the Gmail team, a perfect Gmail iOS app is definitely not far away.
The exact amount that made this deal possible has not been disclosed but according to The Verge the company has been acquired by Google for “under $25 million”. Sparrow’s acquisition is not a very novel thing for the search giant as it already has bought various startups over recent years such as Dodgeball (2005), Aardvark (2010), and Meebo (2012).
What do you think of this acquisition as well as the new trend of acquisition of small companies by tech giants such as Google and Facebook? Let us know in the comments section below!
