Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Google Acquires Writely: Which Web 2.0 Startup Is Next?

Google's acqusition last week of Writely, a provider of an online word processing tool, has raised hopes in the Web 2.0 community that there will be more acquisitions of next generation Web companies. Google disclosed that it acquired Upstartle, the maker of Writely last week, although no terms of the acquisition were discussed. Web 2.0 companies, which typically use the popular AJAX programming technique and provide online hosted services or community functions, provide "cool" features but no proven revenue model. AJAX, which stands for Asynchronous JavaScript + XML, is a new technology that allows for better interactivity between users and web sites. Google's move to acquire Writely follows Yahoo's acquisition of social bookmarking site del.icio.us in December. Web 2.0 companies in Southern California include TagWorld (social networking), RentSlicer (rental maps), Central Desktop (project management), vMix (video sharing), Shutterbook (photo sharing), Dropshots (photo sharing), Revver (video sharing), Veoh (video sharing), and EVDB (social calendaring).

---