Yahoo quickly gets into the Tumblr spirit
Along with its billion-dollar intent to purchase Tumblr, Yahoo finds a new home for official blog -- and tries to drive home the message that all will be OK.
Yahoo's official blog has taken up residency at Tumblr, courtesy of this latest acquisition.
On its Yahoo Yodel page, the company spilled the news about the move not long after it confirmed the $1.1 billion deal to buy Tumblr.
Yodeled Yahoo: "Yay! We're moving! As of today, the Yahoo! official blog is moving to yahoo.tumblr.com. Come on over and check out the new digs!"
Yahoo's first blog on its new Tumblr page fittingly discusses the Tumblr acquisition, with a vow by CEO Marissa Mayer: "We promise not to screw it up."
To drive that point home, the blog post led off with an animated image that flashed four placards in quick succession. First "Yahoo!" Then "tumblr." Next up: The flashing and luridly colored "Now Panic and Freak Out." And then finally the more soothing: "Keep calm and carry on." This is perhaps a message to the denizens of Tumblr who have loudly lamented the planned acquisition.
Yahoo has also promised to keep Tumblr independent with its current CEO, David Karp, continuing to run the show.
But moving its own blog over so quickly is a clear sign that Yahoo is already getting into the spirit of Tumblr.
Here's Mayer's post in full:
I'm delighted to announce that we've reached an agreement to acquire Tumblr!
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.
Tumblr has built an amazing place to follow the world's creators. From art to architecture, fashion to food, Tumblr hosts 105 million different blogs. With more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day, Tumblr is one of the fastest-growing media networks in the world. Tumblr sees 900 posts per second (!) and 24 billion minutes spent onsite each month. On mobile, more than half of Tumblr's users are using the mobile app, and those users do an average of 7 sessions per day. Tumblr's tremendous popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a significant new community of users to the Yahoo! network. The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! could grow Yahoo!'s audience by 50% to more than a billion monthly visitors, and could grow traffic by approximately 20%.
In terms of working together, Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!'s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they'll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!'s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience.
As I've said before, companies are all about people. Getting to know the Tumblr team has been really amazing. I've long held the view that in all things art and design, you can feel the spirit and demeanor of those who create them. That's why it was no surprise to me that David Karp is one of the nicest, most empathetic people I've ever met. He's also one of the most perceptive, capable entrepreneurs I've worked with. His respect for Tumblr's community of creators is awesome, and I'm absolutely delighted to have him and his entire team join Yahoo!.
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.
-- Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!
