To continue to resist the "attack" of TikTok, Google spent 100 million to acquire a virtual image company

Reporter | Edited by She Xiaochen | Recently, according to TechCrunch, a person familiar with the matter said that Google bought the AI virtual image startup Alter for about $100 million.
The above-mentioned insiders said that the acquisition was completed about two months ago, but neither side disclosed the information.
However, on LinkedIn, the workplace social software, some executives of Alter have updated their information, indicating that they have joined Google.
A Google spokesman confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch, but declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal.
This company was previously called "Facemoji".
It is not difficult to see from its name that the core of the company's business is virtual image.
At present, Alter's main business is to help creators and brands express their virtual identities by providing plug and play technologies and platforms for developers to create avatar systems in games and applications.
In fact, Google is not the only one who is optimistic about this startup.
Prior to that, Alter had received $3 million in seed funding from investors including Play Ventures, Roosh Ventures and Twitter.
Some media commented that the features of Facemoji are very suitable for Generation Z.
Compared with the past, these groups are more unstable in their cognition of identity and hope to "become different themselves".
What's more, as early as two years ago, the creation of virtual images has been a hot topic in the content industry, and Google's entry into the market is even a little slow.
In addition to some high cost plug-ins for B-end big customers, Alter also has some competitors in platforms that are directly user oriented and have lower barriers to use.
However, the company emphasizes the advantages of strong interaction and expression suitable for the younger generation - which may also be the most favored part of Google.
However, behind such a large acquisition, Google is not only optimistic about this startup, but also shows its determination in content competition.
According to TechCrunch, a person familiar with the matter said that Google hopes to use Alter to improve and increase the construction of its content products to better compete with TikTok.
TikTok is "stepping up" the YouTube of Google's parent company.
A report released by the Pew Research Center in August this year showed that among American teenagers aged 13 to 17, the use rate of YouTube reached 95%, while TikTok climbed to the second place, and about 67% of teenagers said they had used TikTok.
In addition, according to the statistics of research institute data.ai, in the first quarter of this year, TikTok's average usage time per household reached 23.6 hours per month, surpassing YouTube for the first time.
In 2021, Google will promote YouTube Shorts globally, trying to resist the "attack" of TikTok and Instagram in the field of short videos.
Can this acquisition of Alter help Google further capture the hearts of the younger generation? As the meta universe and virtual images become larger