Cue

Cue was a personal search and information-aggregation service formerly known as Greplin. Co-founded by Daniel Gross, Shai Magzimof, and Robby Walker, it was designed to give users a consolidated view of information distributed across their online accounts. Rather than requiring a person to open each service separately, Cue connected approved accounts and indexed their contents so that a query could search across multiple sources at once. The service was positioned as a kind of desktop search layer for the emerging cloud and social-web environment. A registered user could link services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, then search those accounts from one interface. This approach sought to address a problem created by the proliferation of online services: useful personal information was spread across many separate platforms, each with its own login, search function, and data structure. Cue attempted to make that information feel like a single searchable personal archive, described in contemporary material as a “personal cloud.” Cue used a freemium business model. Its free offering allowed users to connect a limited number of accounts, while paid subscriptions unlocked additional sources and increased indexed storage. The premium plans referenced in the available material cost $5 per month for an additional 500 MB of storage or $15 per month for an additional 2 GB. These plans reflected the service's effort to turn cross-account search and indexing into a recurring subscription product. In 2011, Cue raised $4 million from Sequoia Capital. The investment provided outside backing for its account-integration and personal-search model, at a time when consumer internet companies were exploring ways to organize data held across social networks and cloud applications. The available reference material does not establish a broader funding history, user count, revenue figure, or detailed product roadmap. Apple acquired Cue in October 2013 for a price reported in the estimated range of $35 million to $45 million. Following the transaction, the standalone service was shut down, and premium users were refunded. The acquisition ended Cue as an independent consumer product. Publicly available material does not fully document how its technology or personnel were subsequently used inside Apple, so no specific post-acquisition product attribution is made here.

Cue began as Greplin, a service created by Daniel Gross, Shai Magzimof, and Robby Walker to search information held in multiple online accounts from one interface. Its core proposition was to reduce the fragmentation of personal information across social networks and other cloud services. Instead of separately logging into Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and similar accounts, a user could authorize Cue to connect to those services and then search indexed information through Cue's own interface. The product represented an early form of personal cloud search. It did not primarily compete as a general web search engine; its focus was the user's own connected data. By indexing information from online accounts, Cue attempted to turn a collection of disconnected services into a single searchable knowledge space. This model depended on account permissions, supported integrations, indexing capacity, and the continued availability of external service data. Cue operated with a free tier and paid plans. The free version allowed a limited number of connected accounts. Paid users could unlock additional sources and receive more index space. The available account of the service identifies premium pricing of $5 per month for 500 MB of extra storage and $15 per month for an additional 2 GB. These subscriptions were an attempt to monetize the infrastructure required to connect, index, and search personal online information. In 2011, Cue raised $4 million from Sequoia Capital. This financing was an important disclosed milestone in the company's development, although the available reference material does not provide a complete chronology of earlier seed financing, staffing, product releases, or user adoption. It also does not establish a definitive founding year. Apple bought Cue in October 2013. The reported acquisition price was an estimate of $35 million to $45 million rather than a publicly established figure in the supplied material. After the acquisition, Cue was shut down as a standalone service and premium customers were refunded. The transaction marked the end of Cue's public operating life. The available sources do not provide enough evidence to identify which specific Apple products incorporated Cue's technology or to describe the post-acquisition roles of its founders. Cue is therefore best understood as a discontinued personal-search brand whose central historical significance lies in its effort to unify search across cloud and social accounts.

• 2013

  Apple acquisition and shutdown

  [1]Cue (search engine)en.wikipedia.org

  Apple acquired Cue in October. The standalone product was later discontinued, and premium users received refunds.

• 2011

  Sequoia Capital funding

  [1]Cue (search engine)en.wikipedia.org

  Cue raised $4 million from Sequoia Capital, supporting its account-integration and personal-search business.

A unified personal search layer for information distributed across social-networking and other online accounts.

• Personal search and cloud aggregation

  Cue

  Cue was a website and app that connected a user's authorized online accounts and searched indexed information across them. It was intended to provide one search interface for data otherwise distributed among services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The service offered a free version with limited account connectivity and paid options that added sources and indexing capacity. Cue was discontinued after Apple's 2013 acquisition.

• 2019

  Myer and other businesses launch civil claims over Hobart Rivulet flood

  Myer and other businesses launched civil actions in the Supreme Court seeking damages related to the 2016 Hobart Rivulet wall collapse and flood. Myer is seeking $4,186,458; the claims name Hutchinson Builders and engineering firms Gandy and Roberts among the defendants. The allegations described in the claims are not reported as court findings.

  Source

Read more

• 2013

  Apple acquisition of CueM&A

  Background

  Cue had developed a unified search service for information distributed across users' online accounts. Apple acquired the company in October 2013.

  Action taken

  Apple purchased Cue in a transaction estimated at $35 million to $45 million and ended the standalone service.

  Aftermath

  Cue premium users were refunded. The available sources do not establish how Apple's products or teams subsequently used Cue's technology.

  Estimated acquisition price. $35 million-$45 million (October 2013)

  Source

• 2013

  Apple acquires Cue[1]Cue (search engine)en.wikipedia.org

  M&A · Other

  Apple acquired Cue in October 2013 in a transaction estimated at approximately $35 million to $45 million. The standalone service was subsequently discontinued and premium subscribers were refunded.

• 2011

  Cue raises $4 million from Sequoia Capital[1]Cue (search engine)en.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Cue secured $4 million in venture funding from Sequoia Capital to support its unified search across users' online accounts.

1. 1Cue (search engine)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Archived Cue official websiteweb.archive.org
3. 3Myer and other businesses launch civil claims over Hobart Rivulet floodabc.net.au