Oracle to Buy Social Media Platform Involver

Less than a month since its last social media buy, US-based software giant Oracle has announced it is to acquire social media platform Involver, which enables businesses to build apps for social media sites and then analyze how consumers are interacting with them. Terms were not disclosed.

In June, Oracle bought social media intelligence provider Collective Intellect, which helps users monitor, understand and respond to consumer conversations on social media; and a month previously, it acquired Virtue, a company that automates and analyses the use of social media for marketing and customer service. Along with its latest acquisition, these companies form part of what Oracle calls its 'social platform'.

San Francisco-based Involver was founded in 2007 and uses a proprietary coding language for social applications which allow developers to create customized marketing applications for social media sites. Its 'Conversation Suite' helps users monitor consumer chat, and its analytics tool enables the tracking of user engagement to measure campaign effectiveness, and optimize campaigns based on behavioral data.

The firm is led by CEO Don Beck (pictured), who previously held senior business development roles at Adobe and IBM.

Oracle says the transaction is expected to close in the summer of 2012, until when, the two firms will continue to operate independently.

Web sites: www.oracle.com and www.involver.com .