When it comes to an online shopping experience, Google lacks "serendipity," as the company describes it: the idea that Google would, in some way, be able to introduce you to new products based on your shopping habits and interests. It's kind of like the innate recommendation engine that's reflected in the real-life shopping experience—you might not know you need or want something until you're finally introduced to it, but how does that introduction ultimately happen?

The company announced that it was acquiring online retailer Like.com on Friday in a move that's sure to add a little more serendipity to Google's shopping efforts. That's because Like.com is a bit like online shopping with a twist—instead of pushing through products and pages in a manner similar to flipping through a print catalog, Like.com focuses on identifying characteristics to drive user interest.

Or, in other words, its "Visual Shopping" technology drills down to the core of what makes a product interesting to a potential purchaser. Like a particular color? Like.com will serve up all items, within a particular category, that best match the shade you're looking for. The same goes for patterns, shapes, and details.

"We were the first to bring visual search to shopping, the first to build an automated cross-matching system for clothing, and more," wrote Like.com founder Munjal Shah in a post on the company's website. "We didn't stop there, and don't have plans to stop now. We see joining Google as a way to supersize our vision and supercharge our passion."

Google has indeed dabbled in Like.com's style of visual analytics. Just last year, Google announced that it had developed a "Similar Images" functionality for the company's normal image-based search. With it, a user is able to click on a "similar" button below the results of any image displayed to receive a full listing of additional images that best match the original. This kind of functionality has yet to be rolled into the company's Google Products listing, however—that's likely where Like.com will come into play.

And the acquisition doesn't come a moment too soon: Rival sites like Bing offer a similar visual search functionality to Like.com, but one that's more of a hybrid between Google's current Products setting and Like.com's Visual Shopping. On Bing, at least, one can indicate elements like colors and styles for the visual product guide to pick and display, but a person can't actually search for similar products based on the image of one product said user particularly enjoys

According to TechCrunch, sources say that the acquisition cost—undisclosed by either company—hovered around the $100 million mark.