Apple Takes Bite out of App Discovery, Buys Chomp

Apple has reached an agreement with app discovery firm Chomp, according to a report from TechCrunch. Terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but Apple is reportedly getting the company’s technology and staff, and will use them to revamp the app search and discovery process for its App Store.

Chomp Screenshot

Chomp for iPhone Screenshot

Billing itself as, “The search engine that finds the apps you want,” Chomp currently allows users to find apps on both Apple’s App Store and on Google’s Android Marketplace. The company also currently has a gig with Verizon to power the wireless carrier’s Android app searches. Author MG Siegler’s sources said that such side gigs are likely to end at some point after the Apple acquisition.

Apple has heretofore used company acquisitions to get technology, services, people, intellectual property, or some combination of the four. Those qualities are then usually folded into existing Apple products or used to develop new products or services.

The company very specifically does not buy businesses in order to get new revenue streams or existing business deals. Accordingly, it seems likely that Chomp will be used as Mr. Siegler’s sources said it would, to revamp Apple’s App Store search and discovery.

Chomp has only 20 employees, and the company recently raised US$2.5 million in funding. Terms of the deal will likely be announced or leaked in the next few weeks.

Chomp has an iPhone app on the App Store. It’s free, and it’s still available for download as of this writing. If you want it, you should probably get it sooner, rather than later. We’re just sayin’…