Business Intelligence
You Should Know Why Alphabet Acquired These 3 Companies
Companies acquiring other companies is a large component of capitalism and is necessary when trying to maintain a competitive environment. One such business that has gained fame through just buying other businesses is Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Company buyouts are becoming more and more common and most people other than investors, don’t pay attention. However, a company as large and impactful as Alphabet, everyone should be watching their every move. Recently, the tech giant acquired three companies: Webpass, Moodstocks and Anvato and here’s why it’s important.
Webpass
Webpass was acquired by Alphabet and merged with Google Fiber. The business is an internet service provider that focuses on urban areas. Webpass is centered around the ideas of simplicity and transparency. Unlike its larger competitors (cough, cough, Comcast).
Webpass has the advantage of being a small but agile company which owns and operates its entire Ethernet network, taking out the middle-man phone and cable companies. They offer residential and business services and are in five different areas of the United States including the Bay Area, San Diego, Miami, Chicago and Boston.
Webpass has the advantage of being a small but agile company which owns and operates its entire Ethernet network, taking out the middle-man phone and cable companies. They offer residential and business services and are in five different areas of the United States including the Bay Area, San Diego, Miami, Chicago and Boston.
Google Fiber: Google Fiber is a subsidiary of Alphabet that is also an emerging internet service provider. The concept behind Google Fiber is upgrading the speed and reach of the internet to people around the United States. Internet bandwidth with Google Fiber can reach speeds of 1GB per second which is substantially faster than anything that has been available before. According to their website, the only cities that Google Fiber is available in Kansas City, KS; Kansas City, MO; Austin, TX; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Nashville, TN and Provo, UT.
Webpass was acquired by Alphabet on June 22, 2016. However, why would a tech-giant, who seems to have their hands in everything, need to buy Webpass? It turns out it gives Google Fiber access to a new technology called pcell, a wireless antenna that is assigned to each user, which could help support their service. If Google Fiber can allow customers and businesses to connect to the internet faster, the stronger the relationship consumers have with Alphabet.
Moodstocks
Moodstocks is a French company that works in progressing image recognition software which software which has many different key features and is compatible with smartphones. It allows cameras to analyze and pick out patterns through complex algorithms. By detecting different shades of light, it can figure out the edge of a jaw line or the bridge of a nose.
Google Photos: Google Photos is a photo organization and cloud storage service that allows users to upload an unlimited amount of images from their phones. Google Photos will automatically organize your photos chronologically. The user can search through their images and Google Photos will recognize the photos that match the keywords. Since Google Photos is integrated into the user’s google account, photos can easily be shared between profiles. It also comes with basic image editing features if the user needs to tweak the brightness or crop an image.
Moodstocks was acquired by Alphabet on July 6, 2016. It is known for its instant image object recognition, which can reinforce Google Photo’s ability to identify objects and people in photos quicker and more accurately.
In the future, this component may be integrated into purchasing products that you see in the physical world. For an example, you could be looking through a magazine and see something you want to purchase. All you have to do is whip out your phone, take a quick picture and a web page will open to buy that product. This innovation could change how businesses advertise their products and how consumers begin the buying process.
Anvato
Anvato is in the video service industry and provides a platform to monetize video streaming using ads. The company offers a suite of products that fulfill every need of a video streaming company, from encoding and editing to publishing and distribution. It allows its clients the freedom of monetizing their video via inserting ads, pay-per-view or subscription-based. Anvatos’ customers include NBCUniversal, CBS Local Media, Fox Sports, Univision and HGTV.
Google Cloud Google Cloud Platform is a cloud computing platform that is supported by their infrastructure and provides software to analyze and use data. Many of Google’s developer kits and software are supported through the use of the Google Cloud Platform. The idea is to allow developers to commit their time only to coding and developing products instead of wasting time restructuring their system.
Anvato’s platform fits perfectly with Google Cloud, allowing them to add one more feature to their array of services that they already provide. Combining the system of Anvato with the mega-infrastructure of Google will allow business to expand dramatically but we aren’t sure yet how, since it was just acquired on July 8, 2016.
Stay Alert
It’s challenging to think of a company with more influence than Alphabet. Hitting 1 billion monthly active users on Gmail, Chrome and Youtube this year, which is a ⅓ of the people on the internet, they have captured an enormous amount of data. When Alphabet acquires another company, it is for a reason and can shape how the entire world uses the internet. A company with that much control is something that everyone should consider paying attention to.
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[Image courtesy of Pexel user WDNet Studio]
