Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 3 Google has been in the news lately quite a bit, but that’s no surprise. Google is probably the biggest driver of where the internet is heading. Everyone from the normal internet user to the SEO master pays attention to the moves Google makes. The company has been making some significant developments and changes lately to its business (they never stop, do they?). The latest one involves the recent purchase of another company, Wildfire Interactive Inc. What is Wildfire? A post yesterday on the Google Blog acknowledges the importance of social media coupled with business. Google also explains that Wildfire is “a service that helps businesses … manage their social efforts across numerous social websites. It’s a platform for brands to manage their pages, apps, tweets, videos, sponsorships, ads, promotions and more, all in one place.” Google hopes to combine its data management services, like Google Analytics, with the social media management of Wildfire. They plan to provide the ultimate social media marketing package for businesses. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, “Google will pay about $250 million plus performance incentives for Redwood City, California-based Wildfire.” That’s quite a chunk of change for the start-up, but it shows Google’s commitment to maintaining its lead as the best search engine and the best way to manage your data. April Dembosky with the Financial Times makes an interesting point this morning writing, “While Google has failed to match Facebook’s social network effects with its faltering Google+ platform, it is seeking to apply its strength in advertising analytics to measure the effectiveness of social ads, an area where Facebook has struggled.” That essentially describes the reasoning behind Google’s purchase of Wildfire in one sentence: Google is slowly trying to set themselves up to be the leader of social marketing advertising. It’s going to be a long fight to surpass Facebook. What This Means for Businesses At the end of the day, this is good news for you whether you’re a small or large business. It’s sometimes hard to monitor your results depending on where you have a social and online presence. Once the Wildfire service gets moving with Google’s analytical tools, businesses will have a very powerful way to monitor the success of their online marketing and social media presence. Ultimately, this means greater control for businesses and more effective social media advertising. Both of those things are great news because social media and online marketing work, and they work well. Soon, it’s going to be easier to see and improve upon for any business with an online presence. Has your business made the move into social media? If not, now is a great time to start! Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article originally appeared on Content Equals Money and has been republished with permission.Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C Author: Connor Brooke Connor is a Scottish financial expert, specialising in wealth management and equity investing. Based in Glasgow, Connor writes full-time for a wide selection of financial websites, whilst also providing startup consulting to small businesses. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, and a Master’s degree in Investment Fund Management, Connor has … View full profile ›More by this author:ACH Crypto Price Prediction 2022 – Is it a Buy?Lucky Block Partners with Dillian Whyte ahead of Heavyweight Showdown with Tyson FuryNFT Pixel Art – The Best NFT Collections for 2022