Google has acquired a Seattle-based Sparkbuy, a search engine for consumer electronics devices, less than six months after its debut, according to a note on the Sparkbuy website.
Backed by $1 million in angel investments, the startup was founded in 2010 by Dan Shapiro, the former founder and CEO of Ontela. The company launched its beta service — focused solely on laptops — in November. Shoppers could list their criteria for a laptop, say size or price, and and the site would offer up the best matches.
Sparkbuy, allows users to compare prices and features of various electronics gadgets. (TVs, laptops, etc.). Just enter which criteria are important to you, and the search engine aims to allow a user to easily get recommendations on consumer electronics (like laptops) based on various input criteria and preferences, including price, feature options (like memory, hard drive space, battery life, etc.), among other filters.
Sparkbuy has ceased operations and the three-person team (CEO Dan Shapiro, Scott Haug, and Isaac Myers) will join Google’s Kirkland, Washington office.