Google acquired Clever Sense and its Meet Alfred local restaurant and nightlife iOS and Android apps.
Download the free apps, tell Alfred where you like to go to dinner on a weeknight and where you like to dine for lunch, and then the mobile personal assistant, based on your location and whims, will make dinner and lunch recommendations locally and when you travel.
The same goes for your nightlife options and Alfred enhances his pesonalized recommendations as you go along and provide the app with more information.
Afred then shows you photos of its recommended local spots, such as Marino's Fine Foods, replete with reviews and the reason the recommendation is there, such as "Because you like Esca."
Clever Sense had this to say on its website today about its acquisition by Google:
"Today, we are excited to join Google and start a new chapter in curating the world around us! Together with the Google team, we will accelerate our efforts toward this shared vision. Google helps local businesses connect with potential customers, and it worldwide presence can bring the value of Clever Sense to a much larger audience
Discovering local information is extremely important to both users and businesses, and the acquisition of Clever Sense will benefit both."
The acquisition fits nicely with Google's mobile proclivities, emphasis on Google Local and Google Places, and evolution in the travel vertical.
A Google spokesperson says it will maintain and support the app.
“The Clever Sense team is at the forefront of developing a recommendation engine that connects the online and offline worlds by delivering personal and sophisticated information to users at the right time, the right place and within the right context," the Google spokesperson says. "By combining their technology and expertise with our team and products, we’ll be able to provide even more people with intelligent, personalized recommendations for places to eat, visit and discover."
Clever Sense, based in Mountain View, California, attracted this line-up of investors, and is about two years old.