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Google takes a risk - could have finally gotten what makes FB profitable

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Paul Keith:
Google has quietly (secretly, one might say) invested somewhere between $100 million and $200 million in social gaming behemoth Zynga, we’ve confirmed from multiple sources. The company has raised somewhere around half a billion dollars in venture capital in the last year alone, including $150 million from Softbank Capital last month and $180 million late last year from Digital Sky Technologies, Tiger Global, Institutional Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz. The Softbank announcement was never officially confirmed by the company, however, and the Google investment was likely part of that deal as well.

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Back in Quora, someone said Google was stupid for following Facebook's model with the rumoured Google Me since Facebook's profits come from games within the network itself. (and not the social network model)

Now with this move, Google may either have gotten it right or gotten it wrong.

The big problem I see here is how there was no mention of using social networks to provide for these games which is the primary strength of these games.




Google Secretly Invested $100+ Million In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games


from Michael Arrington

Deozaan:
I don't get it. The article is written as fact, but several of the comments say it's just rumors and speculation.

Did Google invest in Zynga or not?

Paul Keith:
It's kind of like Google Me, I guess.

People firmly believe it's true but it's all a rumor officially.

iphigenie:
somebody invested in Zynga not long ago... let me find it

http://mashable.com/2010/06/15/zynga-raises-147-million/

I can't see that Zynga would take more investment not so soon after getting so much pumped in. After all, every such deal dilutes what the other stakes are worth, and there's the power balance to deal with.

unless there was some new business plan involved - a JV of some sort, or an IP transaction. But then that wouldnt be an "investement" but a business deal

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