In a bid to help increase their reach and add more significance to their metrics, influence measurement service Klout purchased the mobile and local neighborhood app Blockboard. The exact terms aren’t being disclosed, but according to Klout’s blog, they see this acquisition as an additional way for them to build an amazing local-mobile app  and will help make Klout useful and accessible no matter where people are.

If you’re not familiar with Blockboard, it’s a neighborhood app that allows the community to really become a virtual community. It’ll allow your neighbors to chat with you and others to talk about issues plaguing the community like potholes, vandalism, graffiti, crime, observations, and even converse with one another — almost like a private community Facebook. But surely this private community Facebook model fits into Klout’s metric platform, right? Well…it doesn’t seem like it. In a post on TechCrunch, writer Leena Rao states that Klout will use the technology and the team to invest in local and mobile product efforts. In looking at the deal, it appears that Blockboard was an “acqui-hire” and should be a good one if the local and mobile strategy pays off. For now, people who are checking their Klout score only knows what their scores are from a global perspective — there’s no localization to help advertisers and businesses figure out what a customer’s influence is within a specific region, county, or city.

But what’s the deal with Klout wanting to go mobile? Isn’t the site already mobile? No, it’s mobile-friendly…you just have to go to their site and view your profile and sign in through the browser and there’s your score. What Blockboard brought to the table is something that Liz Gannes from All Things D remarked in her post when talking about their authentication: the first time someone uses Blocboard’s iPhone app, it validates via GPS that they are located in a particular neighborhood. So now, your Klout score can let you size up your friends and whoever you’re with, all depending on where your phone is. For example, if you happened to be at the Super Bowl last Sunday and part of the collective group tweeting away, the NFL could use Klout to determine who is the most influential tweeter there and give them a spontaneous perk and the service would know you’re there based off of your phone GPS.  Might seem a bit unrealistic, but who knows what mobile opens up for the service. Whether this localization will allow brands to view people based on more filtered Klout scores (e.g., if you’re influential about technology, photography, and sports–what are your individual scores for each of these topics?). This would help with better targeting by brands and advertisers.

The acquisition of Blockboard is the latest string of strong news by Klout. In December, they topped over 10 billion API calls, have more than 4,000 API partners, and indexed over 100 million profiles. With strong funding and their recent round of $30 million from Kleiner Perkins and more, what lies ahead for Klout?

You can read Blockboard’s post about the acquisition here and Klout’s statement here.

Photo Credit: Business handshake by acerin/sxc.hu

by Marissa Louie

ZOMG Our angel and VC friends have done it again. They’d rather roast our insides than roast the turkey. Turn that portfolio company from turkey to turnkey. Joke’s on us, VC billionaires.

Purchaze

-1- Paul Kedrosky: Somali Pirates and TARP

*PAULSON: TARP PIRATE EQUITY IS AN `INVESTMENT,’ WILL PAY OFF.”

-2- Brad Feld: Take Responsibility for your Actions

“I tried calling 1-800-BAIL-OUT to see if I was missing something.  They wouldn’t help me…”

-3- Joi Ito: Loic for a Day

“I thought about selling Loic on eBay, but I realized that would be too selfish.”

-4- Jeff Nolan: I am a Bond

“4 basic types of bonds, Schoolhouse Rock style.”

-5- Fred Wilson: Do You Ever Do Any Real Work?

“Slowly but surely people are wising up to the fact that blogging is work and its a very valuable use of my time.”

-6- James D. Robinson IV: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

“VC’s are too arrogant and the pitching process is too inefficient.”

-7- Daniel Cohen: New TeeVee Live!

“”The best part was his reply to a question on how Fred changed his life: “I get attention from the senior girls in school, which is cool”. Excellent.”

-8- Josh Kopelman: Road Trip

“Chris Fralic, organized a two-day road trip to the four largest advertising agencies in country.  We rented a bus.”

-9- Bing Gordon: Looking for Killer Apps

“Look how smart I am (how dumb I am not!); I got this new (insert hardware model here) and it can do this!!!”

-10- Mark Cuban: Proud to be an American

“I can tell you that no entrepreneur or CEO worth a damn in this country gives up or works less because of a change in tax policy.”

**Honorable mention**

-11- David Cowan: It’s a Smule World After All

When Jeff’s team isn’t cleaning out Bessemer’s kitchen, they’re churning out ass-kicking Chuck-on-iPhone (CHiP) apps.

**Your turn**

Suggest funny angel and VC blog posts through Turkey Day (you know these are going to be ridiculous!)

Marissa Louie is the Founder and CEO of AD Village (http://ad-village.com) which helps bloggers monetize and advertisers optimize. If you liked this post, you might also like You Know You’re a Young Female Entrepreneur When…, 10+ Funniest Angel and VC Blog Posts October 2008, and The Future Co-existence of PR and Advertising. She gets esoteric on Twitter, where she announces Entrepreneur 2 Entrepreneur Office Hours and broadcasts her entrepreneurial journey.