Looking At Google’s Purchase Of Jaiku

Recognize the name Jaiku? If not, don’t fret. Lots of others are in that boat as well. I’m sure Twitter raises a flag, though, right? Okay, good. Because both businesses are pretty much synonymous with one another. In a competitive sort of way, that is.

All you really need to know about Jaiku is that it resides within the instant-messaging/social-networking camp, a particular sub-segment of world of MySpace and Facebook sorts, and counts creations like Twitter and Pownce among the populace. Oh, and it’s probably also wise to tell you that the company was purchased yesterday by Google.

Yes, yes, ‘tis true. And while this piece of news puts the company in front of a fairly large bit of limelight, and no doubt makes for a “big break” moment worth celebrating by the company’s staff over in Finland (after all, isn’t it everyone’s dream to be bought by Google?), most in the press and in the blogosphere are busy trying to peer not into Jaiku’s inner workings, but into Mountain View’s equivalent to the Eye of Mordor to find out what this acquisition means for the acquirer, rather than the acquiree. Which is really unfair, because, I mean, gosh, how many times do you think Jaiku runs off the average bloke’s tongue every day? Surely the count is fewer than Google’s. Ah well, it is what it is. On to the substance of the story.

Google’s purchase of Jaiku is fairly significant, in that it tells us which path Big G is opting to travel as far as social networking is concerned. Yes, the company has kept its original holding in the networking world, Orkut, afloat for many years now and shows no clear signs of letting it fade to dust – though it’s doubtful that Larry and Sergey are going full-gear with development of the network at the moment – but looking ahead, Jaiku appears to be a very good platform upon which Google can further expand its Web presence. (You thought they’d all but hit their limit, didn’t you?)

Jaiku’s solid developments both on the desktop and in the mobile arena are, after all, attractive properties, particularly for a company like Google; a company that, despite its bountiful technological accomplishments, has yet to put together a big league hitter of its own for combat in the social sector of the Web.

So considering the fact that GOOG’s got a whole lot of cash to blow, why not save some sweat and toil and just buy its way into the game?

It’s really all too evident Google’s master plan going forward. The company is looking to connect as many dots as possible prior to the start of 2008, at moment that is likely to be marked by significant change in the mobile space (at least in the US), what with the auction of the 700MHz spectrum slated to occur very close to the New Year. Google has hinted time and time again its intentions to be a force in the wireless world – be it a service provider and/or software maker and/or content distributor and/or advertising giant – to be reckoned with.

The company has much invested in the future, and if it gets all it wants come the New Year, it’s likely going to have a very bright one. That’s what everyone is projecting, anyway. I mean, just look at the company’s stock price. If that’s not an indication of (suspected) big things to come, I don’t know what is.