Google buys travel guide app Jetpac

20 Aug 2014

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Google has confirmed it has bought the start-up company responsible for creating Jetpac, a mobile application that provides travel guides by analysing photographs from social networks such as Instagram.

Jetpac is an app that collects images from a number of sources such as Instagram and provides these to app users as part of its travel guides. The company behind the app has now been bought by Google. Image: TechCrunch

Financial terms of the deal have not not disclosed.

Jetpac said that its application would be removed from Apple's online App Store in the days ahead and that it would stop supporting the software by the middle of September.

"We look forward to working on exciting projects with our colleagues at Google," Jetpac said in an online post.

Jetpac mines publicly shared pictures for visual clues with categories such as "bars where women go", "the best views", or "where the hipsters are". It then presents users with city guides suggesting spots that might be of interest to them

Jetpac boasts visual guides recommending local haunts in about 6,000 cities around the world.

Google did not comment on its plans for Jetpac, which could be woven into Google's own social network, mapping service, or personalised recommendations.

Jetpac was founded about three years ago and is based in San Francisco.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge

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