Microsoft has sold its product search and customer reviews engine Ciao to LeGuide.com for an undisclosed sum. Microsoft purchased Ciao back in 2008 for $486m. LeGuide, a European publisher that owns several similar online properties, will use Ciao to expand its current business platform. The French company operates product search and price comparison sites in […]
Microsoft has sold its product search and customer reviews engine Ciao to LeGuide.com for an undisclosed sum. Microsoft purchased Ciao back in 2008 for $486m. LeGuide, a European publisher that owns several similar online properties, will use Ciao to expand its current business platform.
The French company operates product search and price comparison sites in 9 different languages across 14 different European countries, giving it a strong customer base to introduce Ciao, which brings with it some 20 million users.
Formed in 1998, Ciao has offers customer reviews and product ratings for millions of items across major parts of Europe and the USA.
Since its inception the site has changed hands a few times, being bought from the original creators by Greenfield Online in 2005, only to be sold on to Microsoft in 2008 – now owned by LeGuide at the close of 2011.
