Yahoo acquires social data visualization startup Vizify

Yahoo has acquired Vizify, a company that turns social media data into interactive visual aids such as infographics and videos, adding to the Internet giant's string of acquisitions designed both to get talent and access to new technologies and services.

In this instance, Vizify in Portland, Oregon, will be closing down the service and refunding its paid customers. From Wednesday, Vizify will not be accepting new users, the startup wrote on its website.

"We have found in Vizify a company that shares our passion for visualization technology and the user experience," Yahoo said in a statement Wednesday. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

A team of five persons from Vizify has joined Yahoo's media product organization in San Francisco, Yahoo said.

Vizify said it can't talk specifics just yet about what lies ahead, but is excited to bring a more visual approach to data at Yahoo. "We have a lot more up our sleeves and can't wait to get started," company executives wrote on their website.

Yahoo has been on an acquisition spree for a long time and in January agreed to acquire Incredible Labs, the startup behind mobile personal assistant app Donna, shortly after it said it was acquiring Tomfoolery, a startup whose key product is Anchor, an app offering group chats, file sharing, and email and voice calling for businesses. In February, the staff from Distill, the developer of a collaborative video interview platform, decided to join Yahoo.

Vizify has been talking to Yahoo since last summer. "Ultimately, we just couldn't say no to the opportunity to bring our vision to the hundreds of millions of people who use Yahoo every day," the company said on its website.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @Johnribeiro. John's e-mail address is john_ribeiro@idg.com