Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., said it will acquire privately held Medstory, a Foster City, Calif.-based Web search company that develops technology specifically for health information. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is a "strategic move for Microsoft in the consumer health search arena and signals a long-term commitment toward the development of a broader consumer health strategy," Microsoft said in a news release. The company also said it is impressed with the ability of Medstory's technology to organize and display the most relevant online health content.
"Instead of trying to force people to think in terms of the way a computer searches, we're enabling computers to more intuitively conduct searches in the way that people think," Alain Rappaport, founder of Medstory, said in the release. Medstory employees will join the Health Solutions Group, a new division at Microsoft that will manage product development and delivery. Rappaport will assume the role of the division’s general manager of health search when the deal closes. At deadline, representatives for Microsoft and Medstory were not available for additional details about the deal and its closing.
