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Facebook acquires social gift-sending app Karma

Facebook acquires social gift-sending app Karma

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In the latest of several buyouts, Facebook has acquired gift-sending social app Karma. The service will continue to operate after the acquisition.

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Karma App
Karma App

In the latest of several buyouts, Facebook has acquired social gifting app Karma. The Karma team announced the news today on its blog, and Facebook has confirmed to GigaOm that it acquired both the team and the app. Fortunately, fans of Karma will be able to keep using it, unlike with now-dead Lightbox. "The service that Karma provides will continue to operate in full force," say the Karma co-founders. "By combining the incredible passion of our community with Facebook’s platform we can delight users in new and meaningful ways."

As with Facebook's other acquisitions, the company is focusing here on phone and tablet development to shore up its relatively weak mobile revenue situation. Karma is also more directly monetized than some of the other services Facebook has bought. The e-commerce app allows users to buy gifts from a catalog and send them to friends, who can then confirm and receive them or opt for something different. Karma has already integrated sending gifts through Facebook, so it's not hard to see how it might work after the acquisition.