Google buys Instagram-like app

Sample of a photograph edited by mobile photo-sharing app Snapseed.

/ Snapseed

(CBS News) Google announced Monday that it has acquired Nik Software, makers of the photo editing app Snapseed.

Google senior vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra made the announcement on Google+ and included a gallery of examples of Snapseed-edited photos. Like the mobile-sharing app Instagram, Snapseed lets users apply filters and frames. Users can also edit raw images - sometimes referred to as digital negatives - which can be transferred with a connection kit.

Gundotra added that over 400 million people have joined Google+, with 100 million monthly active users.

The addition of a mobile-editing and sharing app re-invigorates the competition between Google and Facebook, which owns Instagram. Google+ launched as a beta test in June 2011. Many believed it would take a big chunk out of Facebook's membership. As of June 2012, Facebook reports 995 million active users.

Snapseed was launched in 2011 and reported 9 million users in June 2012.