According to Mashable.com, Facebook is in talks to purchase the facial recognition website Face.com for “tens of millions” of dollars. Some of the technology available from Face.com is already being used on Facebook.com in the form of the Photo Finder and the Photo Tagger. The Face.com software can also recognize emotion and is able to estimate gender and age. If the deal goes through, this could be the first major acquisition after the Facebook.com IPO.
These reports come just a week after speculation about a Facebook browser hit the internet. According to a previous Mashable.com article, Facebook was in talks with Opera Software, who is the maker of the Opera web browser. A Facebook browser would integrate apps and plug-ins into a user’s everyday browsing experience. This acquisition would fully integrate social with your regular online activities.
These rumored acquisitions are important especially in light of Facebook’s relatively weak IPO. The purchases hint at Facebook’s strategy as a public company. Their current strategy seems to be to acquire any competitive technologies and to embed Facebook even farther into regular online activities.
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