Google acquires second Israeli start-up Quiksee

Search giant Google yesterday acquired its second Israeli start-up, Quiksee, an Internet company that focuses on creating location based interactive videos.

Both Google and Quiksee refused to comment on the financial terms of the deal, but according to various media reports, the California-based Google has paid around $10 million.

''We are delighted to announce that Quiksee has been acquired by Google! We've learned a lot from our previous work at Quiksee, and we look forward to bringing our experience, creativity and insight to Google,'' said the Israel-based company in a posting in its website.

It went on to say, ''Both Google and Quiksee share the same innovative vision, and while we can't share any future product plans, we look forward to the opportunity to contribute and do great things together in the future.''

Quiksee, also known as MentorWave Technologies, allows users to create location-based interactive media content. Its web-based content, "lets you quickly and easily create stunning virtual tours," according to the company's web site.

Quiksee was founded in 2002 by software development professionals Gadi Royz, Assaf Harel, Pavel Yosifovich and Rony Amira.

Quicksee is expected to be a an add-on advantage to Google's Street View service, which allows viewers to view street level images of streets in cities and sites around the world.

This is the second acquisition of Google in Israel. In April 2010, it acquired Tel Aviv-based LabPixies, a designer of widgets and social media applications for mobile phones, including the iPhone and Android handsets for $25 million. (See: Google acquires widget creator Labpixies)