Web 2.0 consolidation begins in earnest

First news readers, now wikis and travel social networking. Despite headline stealing acquisitions of MySpace and YouTube, purchases of Web 2.0 companies have been rare. And, purchases with disclosed prices have been nearly non existent. That latter characteristic didn't change, but the pace of acquisitions of all sizes among Web 2.0 companies is picking up.

Today, JotSpot, the wiki startup founded by Joe Kraus, said it has been acquired by Google for an undisclosed amount. The company had raised $5.2 million from Redpoint Ventures and Mayfield.

Also, Travelpost, an online travel startup backed with $1 million from Amicus Capital and Arba Seed Investment Group, has been acquired by privately held Sidestep.

These deals come only weeks after the feed reader business shrunk with the sale of Rojo to SixApart and the closing of Pluck's RSS reader.

What's going on? As most of us know, the vast majority of the Web 2.0 companies established in recent years were not actually companies, but singular features masquerading as corporate entities. Wikis, online travel rating and blog sites and feed readers are just the initial phase of what will be a slew of sales with undisclosed price tags and closures.