Facebook acquires mobile gift-giving app

Karma, the mobile gift-giving app, on Friday revealed that it has been acquired by Facebook, PC World reports.

The news came shortly after the markets closed on Facebook's first day as a publicly traded company. Karma allows users to buy gifts from its catalogue from their mobile phones. Recipients receive a text message notifying them of the gift and directing them to a Web site where they can exchange it if they want to and enter their shipping address.

Karma, which was unveiled in 2011, is already integrated with Facebook. The app draws from Facebook profiles to notify users of friends' birthdays, for example.

The terms have not been disclosed, but the company's 16 employees will join Facebook, The Wall St. Cheat Sheet states.

From the transaction, it will help the social media giant increase its monetisation on mobile platforms - an area that the company has openly said is a weakness.

Facebook said in a statement: “We've been really impressed with the Karma team and all they accomplished in such a short time. This acquisition combines Karma's passion and innovative mobile app with Facebook's platform to help people connect and share in new and meaningful ways.”

Facebook's future is riding on its ability to either adapt to or adapt mobile, and it's been busy bringing innovative, quality mobile app companies under its wing - such as Lightbox, Glancee and Instagram, Digital Trends says.

Whether to harness the power of the team behind these products or to leverage their astounding platforms, it's all part of its attempts to improve its mobile strategy.