Google Acquires 3D Virtual Reality Tour Company Quicksee For $10 Million

Quiksee, an Israeli 'virtual reality touring' company, was acquired by Google yesterday and is joining Google's expanding Geo Team. Anyone can pin video files onto Google Maps via QuikSee and provide 3D visual street tours on map query search results. This addition is strengthening the already firm grip that Google Maps has over location based services and local business advertising. Israeli newspaper Haaretz was the first to state that the acquisition is estimated at $10 million dollars. Quiksee will account for the 20th company acquisition by Google in 2010. Google has been on a roll in acquiring social media companies such as Slide, Jambool, and Aardvark in efforts to become the top dog in social technology. This is the second Israeli company snapped up by Google in less than 6 months, following the purchase of LabPixies this past April for a substantially higher price of $25 million. This addition further enhances Google's solid advantage in the location battleground by adding to their other mapping functions such as Google Street View, Google Places, and Google Earth. Google's multi-layered approach to location based service presents immense competition to other leaders in the field such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and even Twitter and Facebook Places. The acquisition is also a step forward for Google's local business listing services. Maps and location based services are hugely utilized by advertisers and local businesses wanting their results to appear in search engine and map queries results pages. Local businesses can now show a personalized visual motion picture of their store, restaurant, or business. QuikSee, also known as Mentor Wave, was Co-founded by Rony Amira, Gadi Royz, and Assaf Harel in 2002. Gadi Royz, CEO of QuikSee, stated that "Both Google and Quiksee share the same innovative vision, and while we can't share any future product plans, we look forward to the opportunity to contribute and do great things together in the future." What do you think of this new virtual tour addition to Google Maps? Does seeing virtual panoramic tours sounds cool or useful when looking up directions?

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Google Acquires 3D Virtual Reality Tour Company Quicksee For $10 Million

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