Hasta La Gadget!

Yahoo’s board has reportedly approved a $1.1 billion cash deal for the acquisition of popular blogging platform Tumblr.

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Earlier today, Yahoo sent press invites to a “product-related” event in New York City Monday afternoon and there are already two separate rumors about the company’s plans. The first, from Bloomberg, concerns the event specifically and cites a “person familiar with the matter” reporting we’ll hear about new updates for Yahoo’s once-mighty Flickr photo service. The second is from AllThingsD which has upgraded rumors of a Tumblr purchase from possible to possibly imminent, saying the company’s board will meet Sunday to decide whether it will make a $1.1 billion all-cash offer for the site. Since new CEO Marissa Mayer took over Yahoo has made a number of acquisitions with a focus on improving its homepage, content and app offerings including Flickr. That announcement is also penciled in for the 20th, but whatever actually goes down you can be sure we’ll have the details as they’re unveiled around 4PM ET.

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Source: Bloomberg, AllThingsD

Call us crazy, but it sure feels like Yahoo’s had one heck of a spring. When it comes to spending, anyway. Just as soon as it can get one check to clear, the search icon is breaking the ink back out to write another. According to a breaking tweet from CNBC, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is scheduled to speak at a “product-related” event in New York City this coming Monday. It’s tough to tell what kind of surprise will be in store, but we wouldn’t be shocked if it involved the word “Tumblr.” We’re digging for more as we speak, and will most certainly be on hand to see what comes to fruition.

Update: We’ve just heard back from Yahoo, and the event is indeed going down in order to “share something special.” And yes, we’ll be there to bring whatever happens to your browser of choice.

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Source: CNBC (Twitter)

Yahoo is in talks to acquire Tumblr, with a potential deal worth as much as $1bn for the social blogging site, according to insider whispers. The acquisition would give Yahoo a vital footprint in the youth demographic the company currently lacks, sources tell AllThingsD and Adweek, in addition to giving a new outlet for brand advertising.

Tumblr has become the darling of the youth blog market, with its straightforward reblogging system and easy page customization making it both immediate and addictive. The site has found particular favor for those sharing photos and videos, with Tumblr claiming to have 107.8m blogs comprising 50.6bn posts.

However, the site has also struggled to manage the growing amount of adult content that is shared and re-shared, and has been criticized for relying on an opt-out policy for blogs with such themes to remove themselves from search results where underage users might see that content. Back in January, the official Tumblr app for iOS was updated with a 17+ age rating, in a move that was seen to be pre-emptively guarding against rejection from Apple over in-app content concerns.

Yahoo can apparently see beyond all that, the sources suggest, and the site’s fledgling use of advertising – predominantly inserting sponsored content into the main dashboard as users scroll through content from blogs they subscribe to – is also seen as promising. Last year, Tumblr suggested it expected to see advertising revenues in the order of $100m in 2013.

That could be the value Yahoo brings to the deal, wielding a much larger, established advertising team that could more thoroughly monetize Tumblr’s content. How that would sit with existing users is unclear at this stage; previous changes to the site have met with no small amount of resistance. Yahoo has a mixed track-record in how it handles acquisitions, too; its most recent three purchases were instantly shut down, something which could be a cause for concern for avid Tumblr users.

The Tumblr negotiations are described as “fluid” though at least one source suggested that a final agreement could be inked as soon as this weekend. That might not amount to a full acquisition, however; other possibilities include a close partnership between the two, as Yahoo attempts to duck under Tumblr’s “cool halo” and increase its userbase among the 18-24 demographic.

Yahoo eyeing Tumblr in $1bn grab for “cool” demographic insiders claim is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Just several days after Yahoo acquired popular to-do app Astrid (shutting it down while they were at it), they acquired two more companies, both of which have now been immediately shut down by Marissa Mayer and company. Polling service GoPollGo and flight awards app MileWise have both been bought and shuttered by Yahoo.

Both websites of GoPollGo and MileWise have been updated to reflect the acquisition, and it seems that both teams will be joining Yahoo. The reason for the acquisitions, nor the financial agreements have been disclosed, but Yahoo is most likely continuing its progress of becoming a more mobile-focused company.

It’s also said what these new team members will be working on, but it’s more than likely that MileWise employees will be working on projects that are travel related for Yahoo, possibly in order to bolster the company’s travel deals cred. As for GoPollGo team members, it’s always possible that Yahoo could be looking to build a polling service of their own.

That makes three companies in just a matter of days that Yahoo has bought and immediately shut down. It’s definitely a sign from Yahoo letting people know that they mean business, but users who have been using these smaller services and apps probably aren’t the happiest of folks right about now.

[via The Next Web]

Yahoo acquires GoPollGo and MileWise, shuts them both down is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.