Google buys Aardvark

INTERNET SEARCH OUTFIT Google has bought the social search firm Aardvark, possibly in a bid to improve its search tools.

The deal was confirmed at Techcrunch by Max Ventilla, the CEO of Aardvark, who told the website, "We can now confirm that Google has signed a deal to acquire us but have no further comment."

Aardvark provides answers to questions posed in plain language. "Just send Aardvark a question in plain English, like you do when talking to a friend. Aardvark figures out who might be able to answer, and asks on your behalf - Aardvark is the hub," it explains.

We tried to ask it, "Has Google bought Aardvark?", but had to register first and so far have not received the confirmation email.

We had more success at Google, where a spokesman said, "We have signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aardvark, but we don't have any additional details to share right now."

Ask.com welcomed the deal, saying it was nothing but good news for its own business.

"A Google+Aardvark combination in the search marketplace absolutely validates the Q&A space where Ask has been #1 in for years," said Scott Garell, president of Ask Networks.

"We welcome that challenge, we're ready for it, and we believe we're the best in the world at Q&A - as we always have been.

"Google's purchase of Aardvark is simply an acknowledgement that Q&A is the future of search."

We then asked Ask.com, "Is Q&A is the future of search?", and received a lot of links to articles about Google. µ