Google Acquires Social Search Provider Aardvark for $50 million

Google has acquired Social Search provider Aardvark for $50 million, as reported minutes ago by TechCrunch. Aardvark is a service that connects people with questions with people with answers by utilizing instant messaging an email. It integrates quite intelligently with Google Chat, for instance, and the first time you sign up and ask a question, you’re immediately pinged with a friend request from the Aardvark chat bot. The fact that Google is picking them up says a lot about the type of social features they want to introduce into their products moving forward.