Yahoo & Tumblr – Will it have the same success as Google did with YouTube?

In May 2013, Tumblr was bought by Yahoo for an impressive $1.1billion; but will the merge be a successful one?

Tumblr was created by one man and it was his close relationship with the development of the site that helped keep it personal and user friendly.

Will the buyout ensure that the original use and purpose of the site is maintained, or will there be big changes?

Yahoo strongly believe they will keep to the site’s make up and won’t do much to change it, their CEO Marissa Mayer stated; “Tumblr and Yahoo couldn't be more different, but, at the same time they couldn't be more complementary” suggesting that the relationship will benefit both parties.

Marissa also stated that the two companies were homes for brands which is what contributes to them being a great match. Yahoo’s interest in Tumblr derives from their mission to grow their audience by 50%, and by acquiring Tumblr makes them more connected to a younger audience. Not only that, Yahoo will no doubt benefit from multiple advertising opportunities from Tumblr's main site and mobile application.

However, advertising will be a challenge for Yahoo to execute successful due to the audience who use the site. When twitter introduced adverts to users’ feeds, caused a lot of upset and frustration by users, which Yahoo will want to avoid.

The move by Yahoo to acquire Tumblr shows the new direction in which Yahoo seem to be taking, using new technology and experimenting with new products.

For now it’s too early to say if the relationship will be a success but the outlook is promising and exciting as it shows the big players in the online world are taking chances and keen to shake things up. So long as Yahoo doesn’t go mad with the advertising and any new developments to the site, it could prove to be a very successful relationship indeed!