Expanding an existing partnership, cable company Comcast is buying Plaxo, which offers contact management and content tools for social networking. Comcast plans to add Plaxo's services to its existing Web and cable offerings.
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Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSK) is buying contact management company Plaxo and plans to incorporate into all its offerings features intended to help people synchronize their address books and connect socially online.
The Philadelphia-based cable company said social networking and other services will be added to its Comcast.net, Fancast.com and Fandango.com Web sites. Cable subscribers eventually will also be able to access the services through their set-top boxes and other devices.
"We think the combination of Plaxo and Comcast together can supercharge both of our products," said Sam Schwartz, executive vice president of Comcast Interactive Media. "Comcast is looking at Plaxo to become the social media backbone of its products."
Millions of Users
Plaxo, based in Mountain View, Calif., is a 50-employee company funded by investors ranging from Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) to former Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) CEO Tim Koogle.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
One Plaxo service lets users update the contact information their friends have on them automatically, by sending the updates to friends' address books. Plaxo also operates the social networking site Pulse. Plaxo says it has nearly 50 million accounts.
Already Linked
Plaxo Chief Executive Ben Golub said his company already manages address books on Comcast.net. Both companies hope to expand their services across different devices.
"Right now on Plaxo you have a lot of people who are sharing photos," he said. "On Comcast, you ... also share them with your grandmother when she turns on the TV."
He was referring to the ability to post photos on Comcast.net for other subscribers to see.
The acquisition is part of Comcast's strategy to strengthen its online presence. The nation's largest cable operator has been steadily adding features to Comcast.net, its main e-mail portal.
It also developed an entertainment site, Fancast, and now owns the Fandango movie and ticketing site.
Shares of Comcast rose 28 cents to US$22.37 on Wednesday.
is buying contact management company Plaxo and plans to incorporate into all its offerings features intended to help people synchronize their address books and connect socially online.
will be added to its Comcast.net, Fancast.com and Fandango.com Web sites. Cable subscribers eventually will also be able to access the services through their set-top boxes and other devices.
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