Google acquires social games developer Slide

Internet giant Google is said to have acquired Slide.com, a maker of widgets for online entertainment and social networking websites.

TechCrunch, which first reported the deal yesterday, said Google has paid $182 million for the San Francisco-based start-up, while The New York Times, citing unidentified sources said that Google has paid around $228 million.

Slide, founded in 2005 by the former co-founder of online payment service provider PayPal, Max Levchin, provides slideshow, image and video personalisation, guestbook, and virtual gift applications for social networks, including Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, Bebo, Friendster and Hi5.

Slide, which claims a monthly user count of 27 million unique custmers in over 200 countries, also develops virtual community applications like SuperPoke Pets, Top Fish, SPP Range and SuperPocus Academy of Magic.

Slide's vision is to build communities that fuel the creation and distribution of virtual goods, a market that is forecasted to hit at least $1.6 billion in the US this year, according to the company's website.

Assuming that the sale price is around $228 million, it is lower than the $500 million valuation given by its investors in 2008.