Yahoo is buying Tumblr

It was way back in the heady days of last Friday, that we first learned Yahoo might buy Tumblr and now we know for sure: Yahoo is indeed buying Tumblr, for the princely sum of $1.1 billion (£722 million). If you're worried about your account though, don't worry, Yahoo has promised it won't “screw it up.”

Tumblr will continue to operate as an independent organisaton and its services will continue, unlike a lot of other recently purchased Yahoo properties. This was expected however, as with a user base in the hundreds of millions, there are some entities that even Yahoo can't swallow up.

Tumblr, forgetting vowels since Flickr.

It's thought likely that Yahoo will use the site's large user base to bring more advertising to bear and therefore increase its operating profits. You should hope so anyhow, with that lofty price tag. Others however have suggested that Yahoo is more interested in the data Tumblr can generate, giving it a better insight into online audiences – especially those that gather around services like Tumblr. It could also help Yahoo reinvent itself as a contemporary firm, instead of being associated with services long since fallen from grace.

Speaking about the buy was Yahoo's CEO, Marissa Mayer, who said: “Tumblr is redefining creative expression online. On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo couldn't be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn't be more complementary. Yahoo is the internet's original media network. Tumblr is the internet's fastest-growing media frenzy.”

KitGuru Says: How do you guys feel about this buyout? Will it stop you using Tumblr?

[Thanks Wired]

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