Microsoft Acquires Discount Shopping Site Jellyfish.com

Microsoft has acquired Madison, Wisconsin based discount shopping service Jellyfish.com. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed, but the deal was sealed Thursday.

Under the terms of the deal, Jellyfish.com will maintain its standalone identity and its 26 employees will remain in Wisconsin.

Jellyfish.com previously took $5 million in funding from Kegonsa Capital Partners and Clyde Street in October 2006.

Jellyfish.com’s platform, which Marshall Kirkpatrick described when he reviewed in for TechCrunch as being “a little bit frightening and bizarre,” is a reverse auction where buyers bid on reducing prices, betting on when to place an order without knowing quantity at the given price.

The Microsoft Live Search team said they “think the technology has some interesting potential applications as we continue to invest heavily in shopping and commerce as a key component of Live Search.”