Google has acquired a Brazilian search company.
Akwan Information Technologies provided search services to companies in Brazil, and it also operated todobr, a search site that competed with Google.br. The www.todobr.com.br URL has been redirected to www.google.com.br.
Akwan’s technology was created by a group of university professors from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, and Google said Akwan would become Google’s research and development center for Latin America.
Berthier Ribeiro-Neto, CEO of Akwan IT, will head the new Google Latin
America R&D Centre, which will focus on developing products for the Latin American market.
“Google’s technology and resources will enable us to broaden our offerings while continuing to provide clients with the high-quality service they have come to expect,” Ribeiro-Neto said in a statement.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.