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Search engine giant Google is once again set to delve deeper into the realm of social media and expand the number of services that they offer.

Following on from the release of Google’s very own social network; Google Buzz, the search engine market leaders are set to take over the social search engine Aardvark, in a deal rumoured to be worth £32 million ($50 million)

Aardvark is an alternative to generic search engines, they let you use instant messaging, Twitter and e-mail to ask full-text questions and then get answers from people in or close to your social network.

It was established in 2007 as the original social search engine by former Google employees Max Ventilla and Nathan Stoll, along with programmer Damon Horowitz. The concept of the site was to use already established social networking sites such as Facebook & Twitter to tap into the knowledge of friends-of-friends and create a search engine with added friendliness.

Given Aardvark’s focus on local and mobile searches, Google has made a smart move. Pair Vark’s already established technology and user base with Google’s new social network Buzz and all their mobile applications, and Google has leading-edge technology in search that uses humans as much as algorithms to find answers to questions.

If you are interested in reading up on how Vark.com actually works there is a post on the Aardvark blog with detailed questions and answers on how social search is better than generic.