It was the shot heard ’round the hipster blogging world on Monday when it was announced that Yahoo! was buying super-stylish blogging platform Tumblr for a cool $1 billion. For marketers bent on über visual blog creation, Tumblr has been tops for years. Unlike any other blogging channel, Tumblr caters to visual arts, design, memes, GIFS and, most importantly, that elusive younger demographic. So how will this deal effect Tumblr devotees and marketers? What changes can blogging-for-business experts expect? And how do Tumblr users feel about this mega branding blogging collision?
For its part, Yahoo! has loudly and proudly already vowed not to mess with Tumblr.
“Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business,” Yahoo! said in a statement.
Yahoo! contends that everything users and brands love about Tumblr will stay exactly the same. The purchase, insiders say, had less to do with Yahoo! wanting to improve Tumblr and more to do with good, old-fashioned cash. Reports estimate that Tumblr brings in about $13 million in revenue annually, and for a sagging company like Yahoo!, this was a wise purchase.
“Tumblr in terms of users and traffic is an immediate growth story for us,” Yahoo! Chief Executive Marissa Mayer said in an interview with Reuters earlier this week.
For marketers currently rocking Tumblr for their clients, they too can expect things to stay the same. Or so Yahoo! promises. Tumblr lovers are not so sure. Longtime users/fans of the site certainly have their doubts about the merger and have naturally taken to the Internet to express their concerns. “The beginning of end” and “they’ll ruin our home” are just a few of the Negative Nancy comments left on Tumblr and Twitter regarding the news. While others compared it to the unpopular Facebook/Instagram merger of last year, some have already vowed to leave Tumblr immediately.
Regardless of how you feel, Yahoo!’s purchase of Tumblr is bound to be watched by users, blog marketing professionals and business reporters alike. So readers, you tell us: Tumblr and Yahoo — match made in blogging heaven or hell? Sound off in the comments!
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