Google Buys, Closes Sparkbuy

Google has made some pretty big acquisitions in its day, but that doesn't mean it can't make a little one now and then.

Thus, the search giant announced the purchase of a search lilliputian – Sparkbuy.com, a year-old comparison shopping site that specialized in laptops.

What's unusual about the deal, aside from its presumably small size, is that Google bought the company and immediately closed it down, saying that its three-member staff would be joining Google's Kirkland, Wash., office.

What's this all about? Is Google pulling the old newspaper industry trick of buying the competition and closing it down?

Not likely, say industry observers, who speculate that the gods of the Googleplex were taken with the elegant design and user-friendly nature of the site and will be putting the three Sparkbuy creators to work improving Google Product Search.

Of course, no one is saying anything for the record.

In a "swansong" posted on its home page, the Sparkbuy trio said it was "pleased as punch" to be joining the Big G.

"When we built Sparkbuy way back in the waning days of 2010, we wanted to make it really easy to find the gadget that's perfect for your needs," a task the crew admitted could be "crazy hard."

"But when people started actually using Sparkbuy, we started to see that the opportunity was bigger," they said, adding, "We're stoked about the opportunity to share our vision for search with a broader audience."