Google Buys Search Startup Aardvark While Microsoft's Bing Gains

Google (GOOG), the dominant Web-search engine, has acquired Aardvark, a search startup founded by former Googlers, for a reported $50 million. Aardvark is a social-search engine that allows users to ask questions of their friends and friends' networks, and receive quick responses. The company, which has raised $6 million in venture capital, aims to improve Web search by incorporating personalized, relevant human expertise into the process.