In what would make you jokingly go “aree isko to mai hi khareed leta” Automattic Inc., the owner of the popular blogging tool WordPress is all set to buy the popular microblogging and social networking site Tumblr owned by Verizon for less than $10 Million. The first-hand information about the deal was revealed by The Wall Street Journal. However, the payable amount wasn’t disclosed in the report.
Nevertheless, sources reveal that the payable amount is somewhere close to $10 million, which is way less than $1.1 Billon that Yahoo paid for the same in 2013. Tumblr was launched in 2007 under David Karp, who dropped out of high school at age 15 and crafted Tumblr, adhering to his vision of setting up a blog that didn’t think the traditional, long-form formats like WordPress.
Plummeted User Base
The reason why Verizon has been scouting for potential buyers lies behind Tumblr’s reduced user base. Reportedly, Tumblr’s user base has shrunk ever since the platform had made the decision to ban all sorts of adult content. Despite waves of criticism against the decision, Tumblr officials didn’t rethink their choice.
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Matt On Ban
Moreover, now when the reins of Tumblr would be in Automattic’s CEO Matt Mullenweg’s hands – who could revoke the ban – he believes, that the ban was implemented for a good reason and must stay intact.
“Adult content is not our forte either, and it creates a huge number of potential issues with app stores, payment providers, trust and safety,” he told Hacker News, clarifying that the ban won’t be revoked.
Further, the Journal’s report indicates that Tumblr’s features would complement WordPress. The report also hinted additional features like letting Tumblr’s mobile platform provide access to WordPress mobile. Nevertheless, the exact details remain under the wraps.
“Tumblr and WordPress have always been very philosophically aligned,” Mullenweg said, adding that he is committed to preserving Tumblr’s community.
