Deal Radar 2010: Should Facebook Acquire Into Vertical Search?

On ReadWriteWeb, Marshall Kirkpatrick asks, “Who(m) Should Facebook Acquire Next?” Here’s my response.

Back in 2007, I wrote a piece called Facebook’s Monetization Strategy in which I suggested categories like vertical search for jobs, online photo sharing, and online travel as possibilities.

While Photobucket is off the table (and now inside MySpace/News Corp), Vertical Job Search engine Indeed is still independent. And with 30 million people unemployed in the United States, this may be a brilliant move. Indeed’s competitor is SimplyHired, but it has investment from News Corp, so may not be as keen.

In travel, Kayak remains independent and with substantial revenue growth. Another company that would bring Facebook incredible monetization potential.

And finally, on photo sharing, my suggestion is public company Shutterfly, also a sizable revenue and growth driver.

Facebook can change the game on Google if it assembles a portfolio of vertical search engines and other context-specific offerings, and it would dramatically enhance its credibility with powerful monetization paths.

Let’s see if it happens in 2010.

This segment is a part in the series : Deal Radar 2010