Facebook acquires Gowalla

Location-sharing service Gowalla is Facebook's latest acquisition. In a blog post on Monday, Gowalla announced that it is heading from its Austin, Texas, headquarters to California, to join Facebook's Palo Alto offices.

"A few weeks later, Facebook called, and it became clear that the way for our team to have the biggest impact was to work together," he wrote. "So, we're excited to announce that we'll be making the journey to California to join Facebook!"

Williams said that the Gowalla service will wind down at the end of January and the company will offer ways to export user data and photos. He added that Facebook will not be acquiring Gowalla's user data.

"As we move forward, we hope some of the inspiration behind Gowalla -- a fun and beautiful way to share your journey on the go -- will live on at Facebook," he wrote.

While Gowalla launched as a Foursquare-like location check-in service in 2009, it pivoted earlier this year to become more of a social travel guide.

In a report on Friday, CNN Money said that the startup had been purchased for an undisclosed price. The company, which has raised about US$10 million, will move most of its employees to Palo Alto, to work on Facebook's Timeline feature, CNN reported.

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