Google has announced that it has acquired Nik Software, makers of standalone and plug-in image editing tools, in a bid to take on the Facebook acquisition of Instagram.

It's thought that the move was driven by a desire to own Snapseed, a photo editing and sharing app, and that the technology could be incorporated into Google services including Picassa and Google+.

A spokesperson for Nik said: "We are pleased to announce that Google has acquired Nik Software. For nearly 17 years, we’ve been guided by our motto, “photography first”, as we worked to build world class digital image editing tools.

"We’ve always aspired to share our passion for photography with everyone, and with Google’s support we hope to be able to help many millions more people create awesome pictures."

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