Google Buys JotSpot
By Rob Safuto on Oct 31, 2006 in Acquisitions, Social Media, Wikis | Tags: Acquisition , JotSpot.-Google , Microsoft , Office , Wiki
Speaking of acquisitions in the social media space, I got an email this morning announcing that Google had purchased hosted wiki service JotSpot. Is there no end to the acquisitions that Google can (and will) make? Probably not given their market capitalization.
According to the email, “Google shares JotSpot’s vision for helping people collaborate, share and work together online. JotSpot’s team and technology are a strong fit with existing Google products like Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Google Groups.”
If Microsoft hasn’t figured out that Google is moving the entire office suite online then they never will. And with Google’s support for Open Office document formats in Google Spreadsheets they are making it easier than ever for people to just say no to the bloated and expensive Microsoft Office. I have to believe that Microsoft knows the deal. What will they do though?
[tags]Social Media, JotSpot. Google, Microsoft, Wiki, Office, Acquisition[/tags]
mike dunn | Nov 1, 2006 | Reply
concur rob - however, would you want to keep your sensitive data online w/in a google repository?
good for individuals, startups and soho’s w/ more of an eye towards bottomline rather than privacy…
now if they can address that w/in the enterprise - watchout…
Rob Safuto | Nov 1, 2006 | Reply
I agree that small businesses and startups are more likely to work with this type of online solution Mike. Larger companies may have problems with this because they typically have very stringent audit requirements.
I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t offer this as a black box solution inside a company’s firewall. Google is obviously not there yet since they have just acquired some and are still developing other pieces of the functionality. But look two years down the road and I can see them having the branding and integration issues worked out.