Google boosts visual search with Like.com buy

Google has bought Like.com, a visual search engine that is designed to help shoppers mix and match their purchases with other items in a retailer's range.

The deal was announced at the end of last week on the Like.com web site, and was welcomed by the firm's chief executive and founder, Munjal Shah.

Shah said that the Google acquisition would let the company "supersize its vision and supercharge its passion", spurring on further innovation.

A statement from Google shed little light on what it has in mind for Like.com.

“We’re pleased and excited to welcome Like.com to Google, where they’ll work closely with our commerce team,” it said.

“While Like.com will operate its web sites separately in the near term, we’re excited about the technology they’ve built and the domain expertise they’ll bring to Google as we continue to work on building great e-commerce experiences for our users, advertisers and partners.“

The clothing service should slot nicely into Google’s shopping pages, which already offer complementary features such as pricing comparisons.

August has been a busy month for Google, seeing it buy virtual currency firm Jambool in a move that boosted its standing in both payment and social networking services.

"We are committed to offering consumers and merchants innovative digital payment solutions, and Jambool will help Google evolve our payments offering and expand into digital goods and content," the firm said.