Yahoo! is looking to acquire social network Tumblr for US$1.1 billion in an effort to increase its presence in the mobile market, according to reports.
With more than 200 million blogs, Tumblr is expected to provide a doorway to the mobile market, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Though originally desktop-orientated, the Tumblr app is now the 63rd most popular iPhone app in the United States, and 85th position on Android platform.
Yahoo! apps are faring less well, apart from Yahoo! Mail, which has a slightly higher ranking in comparison to the Tumblr apps.
Yahoo wanted to purchase Facebook for US$1 billion in 2005, only to be refused by Mark Zuckerberg.
Meanwhile, WordPress founder Matt Mullenwag commented on the overnight gain of 72,000 blogs which migrated from tumblr to his platform since the news.
Mullenwag wrote: “I think we’re at the cusp of understanding the ultimate value of web publishing platforms, particularly ones that work cross-domain, and while Yahoo’s all-cash deal by some metrics, like revenue, is very generous, I think it’s a tenth of the value that will be created in these platforms over the coming years.”
HumanIPO reported earlier this year on the open source platform’s plans to become more social.
