Yahoo is well known to many of us, be it for their success in making revenue from advertisements, email service, news reports, videos, games or Flickr. So when the company’s chief executive purchased the Tumblr for £723 million pounds back in 2013, it may have not seemed like such a bad move to some – but for regular users, there was a worry…
One of these worries was that Tumblr and Yahoo were very different and that the ownership may affect the microblogging platform significantly. However, Yahoo had the money to improve and develop Tumblr and this was needed, especially as the fast-growing user base did not help Tumblr make enough money to stand alone.
Marissa Mayer: the name that may take the ‘cool’ out of the Tumblr game…
Could this user be aiming his comment at Mayer and Yahoo?
In discussing the $1.1bn purchase, Mayer promised not to “screw it up,” but word of Mayer has reached the soft-grunge-pale-gothika-punk blogs, and many are not pleased with the changes to their beloved sanctum.
Yahoo’s newest acquisition
Yahoo’s best asset is that they are one of the world leaders in creating advertising and revenue opportunities and so for a microblogging site such as Tumblr – which creates only a small amount of revenue – on the surface, this is a perfect match. David Karp CEO of Tumblr was expected to stay on which could have furthered Yahoo’s and Mayer’s understanding in developing the well-used and accessed microblogging network. Tumblr users have only seen a small amount of on-site advertising, since it launched in 2007, but this atom bomb sized deal could easily destroy the “cool” factor that Tumblr holds against other new media and social media platforms.
As a user of Tumblr, who has his own blog, and a reader/viewer of a lot of rapid content from the site. I am sceptical how much resistance Karp – Founder/CEO of Tumblr – will be able to uphold his to allowing ads on the platform.
Marissa Mayer’s announced their takeover of the network in a blog on her Tumblr page…
“We promise not to screw it up. Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going. We will operate Tumblr independently. David Karp will remain CEO. The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve. Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster.”
If the Tumblr clan accept what Mayer has to offer then this could mean great things. On the other hand it could mean a disaster for the leading fashion blogs as what is expected from the buyout is ads tagged to photos – and that is not going to fly with hipsters of the web.
“Both Tumblr and Yahoo! share a vision to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas by focusing on users, design — and building experiences that delight and inspire the world every day.”
Mayer seems incredibly keen on keeping her threatening hands off the in-vogue, super chic, blogging site. However, bold moves are key to Marissa Mayer’s business strategies. Is a $1.1bn body slam an over shot when she has promised to uphold a distant approach, whilst also creating a significant and worthwhile ad platform, that doesn’t ruin the holy grail of online diversity and cultural content for the 200.7 million blogs on the site?
Another key question here is whether Mayer has just purchased Tumblr for increasing web traffic to Yahoo and other sites such as their photo website, Flickr. This would seem like a good move that Marissa has kept quiet and a very good tactic too. Imagine developing Tumblr and having a success due to increased awareness and interest in other Yahoo owned services, it sure would help the company.
Since the acquisition of Tumblr, Mashable.com reported a backlash among Tumblr’s user base in reaction to the new ownership, did users feel affected by the change or did they not trust Yahoo and Mayer’s visions for the takeover?
By Content Assistant – Todd Lamming @toddlamming
