The Tumblr Mess


Yahoo has just significantly depreciated the value of the microblogging site.

The microblogging site proudly proclaims itself “Tumblr, Champion of Blogs” on its homepage.* It may well be a champion, but this champ is no longer worth anything. A few days ago, the Yahoo portal, which acquired Tumblr in 2013 for $1.1 million, has once again begun a massive devaluation of the site’s worth. On its accounts, Tumblr will be worth no more than $290 million, once its $482 million value has been wiped out; hence the impression that it is a waste of a site that was still popular when Yahoo acquired it, with a reported 550 million regular users today.

But this is where Yahoo, headed by Marissa Mayer, has the terrible reputation for sinking the companies it buys out. The website VentureBeat just listed 49 acquisitions by Yahoo’s managing director and there are few among them that have been successful since their absorption into the directionless company.

When Tumblr was bought out, its new owner reassured users that the website would remain unchanged. But Yahoo did not do anything to ensure rapid progress, while Snapchat and Facebook innovated very quickly. Tumblr only launched its live video post feature a few days ago, and has to come to terms with drawing upon Facebook’s advertising department. It is therefore unclear as to whether Tumblr will survive for long.

*Editor’s note: Although accurately translated, this quoted phrase could not be verified despite a search of Tumblr home pages.

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