Google has acquired a U.K. based startup Rangespan, which offers help to online retailers with product listings to add strength to its online retail presence.
Google, the biggest internet search company, is adding more resources to strengthen its retail portal, Google Shopping. The web giant has acquired London-based Rangespan that helps online retailers to choose the right product using data science on real-time sales dynamics. The announcement was first made on Rangespan's official website, confirming the acquisition and shutdown of its services.
Rangespan, the British business solutions formed by two former Amazon executives, will continue its work within Google. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Google's retail presence with Google Shopping, which brings both customers and merchants to one platform for all shopping needs. The online retail space is well dominated by Amazon, the biggest online retailer, and has attracted more product searches from Google in recent years.
"We are very happy to announce that Rangespan is joining Google. We will continue to work on services for shoppers and retailers at Google, and we're super excited about the opportunities to come," the company said on its home page, adding that it "will wind down Rangespan's services. We've already begun working individually with each of our retailers and suppliers on this process. "
A report by TechCrunch covering the acquisition news says that Rangespan consists of a small team of four members. The company was founded in 2011 by Matt Henderson and Ryan Regan, both former high-rank Amazon employees. Henderson worked as a director of merchant services in the U.K., while Regan served for eight years in different roles including managing director.
In a statement to the tech news site, Regan said post acquisition Rangespan employees will move to Google's Zurich office. "Some of us, including me, are moving over to join Google," he said, but declined to reveal all the names joining Google. "There are a lot of parallels between what we are doing and what Google is doing and we are excited to work together."
Besides Rangespan, Google has picked up two other British firms including Artificial Intelligence specialist DeepMind and anti-malware startup Spider.io. The financial details of the latest acquisition were not disclosed by either company.