Yahoo buying Tumblr for $1.1 billion, vows not to screw it up

[alfred russel]

http://news.yahoo.com/yahoo-reportedly-bidding-least-600-million-hulu-193500190.html

Yahoo reportedly bidding at least $600 million for Hulu

So how much will it take for Yahoo to buy itself a stake in Hulu? According to a new report from AllThingsD, at least $600 million. Citing "numerous sources close to the situation," AllThingsD reports that Yahoo is bidding between $600 million and $800 million for Hulu, a range that reflects the fact that Yahoo "has proposed several different prices based on a variety of circumstances" including "the length of the licensing rights for content and how much control the programming companies selling Hulu have over their media."

Yahoo's bid for Hulu is a sign that the company is still considering ways to counter the enormous video streaming clout that Google now holds with YouTube. Yahoo was interested in buying a majority stake in French video streaming website Dailymotion earlier this year but that deal fell apart after the French government reportedly threatened to block it. In making an official bid for Hulu, Yahoo will be competing with Time Warner Cable, which is considering buying a 33% equity stake in the company.

WTF? I guess she's going for go big or go home.

Generally I'm skeptical a strategy of a bunch of big dollar acquisitions, but for Yahoo why not? Unless the strategy is to lose market share to google forever--and I have doubts that is viable in the long term---they need to get people to switch from google to yahoo. I've read the articles their staff writes: I have doubts the brainpower exists in yahoo to do anything organically.

[DGuller]

I've read the articles their staff writes: I have doubts the brainpower exists in yahoo to do anything organically.

That is a damn good point.

[garbon]

Generally I'm skeptical a strategy of a bunch of big dollar acquisitions, but for Yahoo why not? Unless the strategy is to lose market share to google forever--and I have doubts that is viable in the long term---they need to get people to switch from google to yahoo. I've read the articles their staff writes: I have doubts the brainpower exists in yahoo to do anything organically.

Unless they radically re-vamp them - I don't see how either of these acquisitions are really going to make them competitive as far as in terms of a "switch from google to yahoo".

[DGuller]

What exactly is Yahoo trying to be anyway?  I honestly see no point in being a content provider of anything and everything, in the age when you can just Google anything you want.

[garbon]

What exactly is Yahoo trying to be anyway?  I honestly see no point in being a content provider of anything and everything, in the age when you can just Google anything you want.

Presumably they want you to Yahoo! or at least visit one of their content arms (like google with Youtube or Google+ ).

[alfred russel]

Generally I'm skeptical a strategy of a bunch of big dollar acquisitions, but for Yahoo why not? Unless the strategy is to lose market share to google forever--and I have doubts that is viable in the long term---they need to get people to switch from google to yahoo. I've read the articles their staff writes: I have doubts the brainpower exists in yahoo to do anything organically.

Unless they radically re-vamp them - I don't see how either of these acquisitions are really going to make them competitive as far as in terms of a "switch from google to yahoo".

Yeah, I was going to end my post with the thought that I can't imagine that is realistically going to happen.

[Eddie Teach]

I don't think people work well in IT teams as telecommuters." Considering Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft basically don't allow telecommuting for that same reason

How very granola of them.

[DontSayBanana]

Presumably they want you to Yahoo! or at least visit one of their content arms (like google with Youtube or Google+ ).

They've got search traffic, but their monetization is piss-poor.  There's pushback on monetizing Tumblr, but it'd be very easy to monetize something like Vimeo for a quick cash infusion.

[garbon]

Presumably they want you to Yahoo! or at least visit one of their content arms (like google with Youtube or Google+ ).

They've got search traffic, but their monetization is piss-poor.  There's pushback on monetizing Tumblr, but it'd be very easy to monetize something like Vimeo for a quick cash infusion.

Hulu isn't really like vimeo though. As far as I know there isn't any component to hulu for users to upload content.

That said, I just saw that they said with acquisition of playerscale(?) that she's acquired 12 companies in her tenure. Perhaps they are looking to mold together some of the functionalities from the various entities acquired.

[DontSayBanana]

Hulu isn't really like vimeo though. As far as I know there isn't any component to hulu for users to upload content.

That said, I just saw that they said with acquisition of playerscale(?) that she's acquired 12 companies in her tenure. Perhaps they are looking to mold together some of the functionalities from the various entities acquired.

Once again, my skills for articulation are terrible.  You've got a point; if they have the winning bid, they'll be paying a lot for the "privilege" of negotiating contracts with content producers, but in the basic wiring, Hulu's business closely resembles a cable network- higher-pay direct advertising contracts for commercials, costs coming mostly from obtaining content for the network.

As far as molding some of the functionalities, I wouldn't be surprised.  The general feeling is that the conglomerate's back- a company like Google or Apple just can't maintain that kind of scale while specializing in a narrow band of content and services.  I'd wager that's not too different from Myer's view, and she's branching Yahoo! out, hoping that enough outlying pontoons will keep the ship afloat.