There’s been a lot of recent activity in the world of online travel searches. Google purchased ITA Software last week, and now Facebook announces that it is buying NextStop.

Facebook has called the this move a “small talent acquisition” and claimed that they wanted to purchase the company because they were impressed by NextStop’s innovative engineering. That seems a little modest. NextStop is a small company, but it has some of the best software available for travelers who want to share information with each other. Imagine if someone turned Roadside America into a streamlined site that actually gave you useful suggestions instead of an annoying number of posts that resembles an argument via Craigslist.

That’s basically what you get from NextStop.

It’s unclear what Facebook plans to do with the acquisition. Looking at the history of  Facebook’s business decisions doesn’t reveal many insights: the company used its acquisition of Parakey in 2007 to nab the Firefox creators, but last April it purchased Divvyshot only to close it down within six months.

NextStop doesn’t have a huge community of followers,  but that doesn’t mean it isn’t effective. Facebook, with more than million members, could turn this acquisition into a service that allows its members to share travel suggestions and information with each other in a way that targets specific interests, locations, and other factors. This would essentially become the greatest guidebook ever because it would focus on information that your friends find interesting. Presumably you and your friends have something in common, so their likes will interest you. As smartphone technology continues to become more popular, a NextStop-Facebook collaboration could fit all of the travel guide info that you need tight into your pocket.

(Image via: Breaking Travel News)