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Google on Thursday confirmed that in-page search firm Apture has been purchased for an undisclosed sum, a move that will likely bring the search platform into the Google Chrome web browser fold.
Apture’s main piece of technology is a product called Highlights, a product that is embedded in websites while allowing users to search within those pages. For example a website visitor can highlight any words in an article to receive a small overlay in their browser window with links to contextually relevant text, videos, photos and other information.
While Vector provides direct content, for example information from TechCrunch, Twitter, Flickr and Wikipedia the website has always used Google search results to find that information. Apture also including videos from Google owned YouTube and pictures from the Google Image search product.
Current Apture is available through Chrome, Firefox and Safari extensions and it’s still unclear if all browser extensions will remain available as Google devours the company.
Speaking to eWeek a Google spokesperson says of the acquisition:
“We were impressed by the Apture team’s approach to enhancing the Web browser experience, and we think their expertise will complement the Chrome team’s efforts in this area.”
On the Apture homepage they state:
“After enhancing more than a billion pages with our products, we think now is the best time to expand our efforts with another team just down the road that shares our vision of making the web better… we’ve been acquired by Google and will be joining the Chrome team to continue driving innovation and creating a better user experience on the Web.”
Apture Highlights is used on various sites including Hearst, the Reader’s Digest and the Financial Times.
Do you think the Google acquisition of Apture will make the product even better?
