Professional social network LinkedIn (News - Alert) recently took some time off from battling “John Does” to make a new acquisition that should bolster its job search service. Or at least, that’s the obvious conclusion to draw since the acquisition was of a data-oriented job search start-up called Bright.

That isn’t to suggest Bright is just another job search site; the company takes an algorithmic approach to match job seekers with new positions. While these calculations are done in the background, their results are embedded within applicants’ search results in the form of scores, which accompany each position posted on Bright. The idea is to give users a better idea of how well they match up with a company or position up front, while helping companies find that perfect applicant more easily.

In other words, Bright combines the match-making algorithms used in dating sites like OKCupid with the job search.

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As such, it’s understandable why LinkedIn was willing to throw down $120 million for Bright—a sum that makes this LinkedIn’s largest acquisition to date. Bright is an ideal fit within LinkedIn’s social job search network and, more importantly, the acquisition is an excellent way to improve LinkedIn’s “Talent Solutions” group, which made up a good amount of the company’s revenue last year. Improving this offering’s effectiveness is a good way to maintain subscriptions.

Of course, Bright’s algorithms should also come in handy with LinkedIn’s “Jobs You May Be Interested In” service, as well as LinkedIn Recruiter, both of which already use data to match members with the right opportunities and employers.

“And that’s why Bright is such a great fit,” wrote Parker Barrile, VP of product at LinkedIn, on the company’s official blog. “Its incredibly talented team takes the same data-driven approach to connecting people and employers, and has built a powerful matching technology that will help accelerate our efforts on multiple fronts.”

As for Bright, the start-up’s founder, Eduardo Vivas, stated that LinkedIn offers something Bright lacked on its own: The ability to apply its technology to an entire economy.