LinkedIn to Offer Contact-Based Alerts With Newsle-Acquisition

LinkedIn, wanting to be more than just a professional networking website, said it plans to offer its users a Google Alerts-like service via the recently acquired Newsle service.

In a blog post on Monday, LinkedIn announced that it has acquired Newsle - a service that trawls the web and social websites for more details about users' contacts.

"LinkedIn and Newsle share a common goal: We both want to provide professional insights that make you better at what you do. For example, knowing more about the people in your network - like when they're mentioned in the news - can surface relevant insights that help you hit your next meeting with them out of the park," states the LinkedIn blog post.

The Newsle website blog also confirmed the acquisition and added that although Newsle will be joining LinkedIn, the firm will continue operating as a standalone service.

To make its website more meaningful and eye-catching, LinkedIn last month also rolled-out new features for its LinkedIn Premium users to make their profiles standout. It included a new profile design, personalized suggestions, tracking ability and more.

Apart from improvements to its web interface, LinkedIn also released a new smartphone app for job seekers in order to reach out more number of people. Last month, the firm launched an app called Job Search that keeps the user's search completely private and not shared with other networks. The app includes job search filters like seniority level, industry and location. Both searches and individual jobs can also be saved for a second look down the road.

The firm in April claimed to have crossed more than 300 million members, with more than half the total outside the United States.