Yahoo Acquires Tumblr for $1.1 Billion

From DailyTech: Yahoo announced today that it will acquire Tumblr under a new agreement -- and even promised "not to screw it up."

Yahoo will acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash, according to a Yahoo press release. Yahoo likely hopes to use Tumblr's position as a popular social media site to attract visitors to Yahoo's other offerings and bump up search use by integrating it into Tumblr.

Tumblr has over 300 million monthly unique visitors; 120,000 signups every day; receives 900 posts per second; users spend 24 billion minutes on the site each month, and more than half of Tumblr’s users are using the mobile app and do an average of 7 sessions per day.

The new agreement is expected to widen Yahoo’s audience by 50 percent to over a billion monthly visitors. Traffic is also expected to grow by by 20 percent.

“Tumblr is redefining creative expression online,” said Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. “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. Both companies are homes for brands - established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amidst the everyday.”

Under the new deal, Tumblr will be independently ran as a separate business, with Tumblr CEO David Karp keeping his position. Yahoo also assures that Tumblr will continue catering to users on the site the way it always has (meaning, Yahoo won't interfere with a good thing).

However, Tumblr will use Yahoo’s search and personalization technology to help users find creators and content.

“Our team isn’t changing," said David Karp, CEO of Tumblr. "Our roadmap isn't changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn't changing. But we’re elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from.”

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