Facebook has bought social bookmarking firm Spool, as the firm looks to expand its mobile services amid mounting shareholder pressure.
In a blog post, the Spool team said its technology makes it easier to consume content on a mobile device. “We firmly believe that solving these problems will be increasingly important as the world accesses the Internet primarily through mobile devices,” the company said.
“The Spool team has deep expertise in mobile software development and a passion for making content easy to consume. We’re excited for the team to join and accelerate their vision at Facebook,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement.
News of the Facebook purchase came shortly after Spool announced in a separate blog postthat it would shut down “to pursue our vision in a new way.”
Spool has since sent its users an email with their bookmarks attached. Those links can be downloaded to a computer or loaded directly in to a browser’s bookmarks folders. The company suggested that those who want to use another bookmark synchronization service try Pocket or Delicious.
“We are extremely excited to accelerate our vision and help Facebook’s users connect and share with the people in their lives,” Spool concluded.
Spool launched in private beta in Sept. 2011 after debuting at TechCrunch Disrupt. “Spool is an easy way to save articles, image galleries, and videos to get back to later,” the company said at the time. “Just click on the Spool add-on in your browser and the page you’re on will show up on your phone.”
In recent months, Facebook has acquired Face.com, Piecable’s mobile development team, and social discovery app Glancee. It also shelled out a rumored $1 billion for Instagram.
Read the Spool Blog post
