Facebook Acquires Social Guide Gowalla

Facebook isn’t talking, but according to unnamed sources, the social networking giant has acquired Gowalla, the location based startup that launched in 2009.

In September Gowalla reported a redesign of its mobile app in a move to change its focus from check-ins to a socially powered guide to cities, parks and regions around the world. Josh Williams, co-founder and CEO of Gowalla told Huffington Post reporter, Bianca Bosker that the move was prompted by an industry wide move toward combining check-ins with discounts and rewards, and that it was never a goal for Gowalla to enter the daily deals space  

“We wanted to go back to our passion, which is inspiring people to visit new places and visit the world through the eyes of someone they trust,” he said. “I think the check-in industry is going to be doing interesting things around loyalty rewards and daily deals, but that’s something entirely separate from what we’re trying to solve.”

Bosker speculated that there might be more to the company’s change in direction, citing competition by sites like Foursquare, Groupon and Google all looking to deliver location-based offers to consumers’ mobile devices.

According to CNNMoney, Williams and most of the Gowalla staff will be moving to Facebook’s offices in Palo Alto where they will be working on the new Facebook Timeline feature.

When asked about the acquisition, Facebook’s only comment was “We don’t comment on rumors and speculation.” Gowalla was not available for comment.

 Source: Huffington Post, CNNMoney