PostRank has been acquired by Google!
From the seed of an idea in late 2006, to the launch of PostRank in mid 2007, and an incredible four years of continuous learning, iteration, and developing and launching new products—what an amazing experience it has been. And yet, the best is still yet to come.
Context & Ripple Effects
PostRank grew out of the late-2006 wave of tools trying to score which blog content deserved attention — a problem made acute by pay-per-post schemes like PayPerPost, which blurred the line between earned and bought buzz until Google penalized paid bloggers in 2007. Four years later, the startup has turned that engagement-scoring idea into a social-web analytics service, and Google has bought it.
The timing fits Google's June push into social signals: two days before the announcement, Google extended its +1 button from search results to third-party websites, creating a need for exactly the kind of engagement measurement PostRank built. The deal also rhymes with Google's earlier absorption of Postini, whose technology now powers Google Message Continuity — buy a specialist, fold it into the platform.
First-order effects
- The PostRank team joins Google, so the startup's engagement APIs and publisher-facing analytics now sit inside Google rather than operating as an independent service.
Second-order effects
- Independent social-analytics providers lose a visible exit template's neutrality argument: publishers weighing engagement vendors must now ask whether their data feeds a company that also decides search ranking.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Google keeps assembling ranking-relevant signals through acquisitions rather than building them in-house — social engagement metrics migrating from standalone startups into the core search stack.
The trend: Search is absorbing the independent social-analytics layer, as engagement scoring moves from standalone startups like PostRank into the platforms that set rankings.