RightNow acquires natural language search company

CRM vendor RightNow has agreed to buy Q-go.com, a vendor of natural language-based search software, for $US34 million in cash, the companies announced Tuesday.

RightNow plans to add the search capabilities to its CX Web CRM (customer relationship management) software package, the company said.

The natural language capability will help website visitors find material they are looking for more easily, RightNow asserted. Natural language aims to intuit a user's intent through additional clues provided by typing the search query in as a full sentence.

Q-go's software also includes a number of other natural language processing-based features as well. The Virtual Assistant can hold a conversation with a website visitor. A Web Form Assistant can aid in filling out Web forms, using previously captured information. Another feature, Contextual Online, adds other possibly relevant information to the Web page being requested by the visitor.

RightNow expects Q-go to bring it an additional $8 million in revenue per year, and to lift its fourth-quarter revenue to $51 million, the company said.

Q-go is headquartered in Amsterdam and runs subsidiary operations in Germany, Spain and the United States. It has approximately 60 clients and 70 employees.

RightNow's CRM software is used by iRobot, Electronic Arts, Overstock.com, My Space, Travelocity and other Web-centered entities.

Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com

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