Marvelous Team Up: Zynga meets Google

Michael Arrington at TechCrunch drops a bomb on the Social Gaming world when he breaks the story that Google has invested at least $100 Million in Zynga. Additional articles and analysis by:

SFGate ” On the one hand if Google can draw in Zynga to the platform that’s a plus. On the other hand if they need to invest money to do so, what does that say about the belief in the platform and Zynga’s unquenchable need for more money for more marketing.”

PC World ” Give people who’re disgruntled with Facebook over privacy issues a new venue through which they can access their farms and who knows?”

Inside Social Games ” Zynga, in turn, has email addresses gleaned from Facebook users, along with mobile phone numbers and other information, that it could use to tie in with whatever Google creates.”

MTV News ” The deal would also potentially give Google a pre-established network of gamers to assimilate along with data on their habits and preferences.”

GigaOM ” If the reports are true, however, it’s interesting that Google would choose to pursue Zynga rather than trying to develop a relationship with a game developer that isn’t so closely tied to Facebook, one of the company’s biggest competitors in the social-networking space”

WebProNews ” Another factor to consider is that Zynga has been growing increasingly unhappy with Facebook’s policy changes and restrictions.”