Here's some late-breaking Friday news:
"Yahoo Inc., the world's largest Internet media site, had agreed to acquire Del.icio.us, a popular Web site that helps users share links to their favorite Web sites, the site's founder said on Friday.
Joshua Schachter, the founder of Del.icio.us, confirmed a posting on the New York-based start-up's site that the company had been acquired by Yahoo. A Yahoo spokeswoman confirmed that the agreement to buy Del.icio.us had closed on Friday."
The deal's terms weren't disclosed, but it's probably safe to assume that Schachter and his eight colleagues (yes, only eight) will do fairly well for themselves. He's even going to give up his day job as a developer at New York investment bank Morgan Stanley and move to Sunnyvale, CA!
Yahoo!'s Del.icio.us deal is an interesting, if not unexpected, extension of their strategy of being at the heart of Web 2.0. Coming on the heels of their purchase of Flickr, the popular photo sharing site earlier this year, Yahoo! clearly understands a major phenomenon that's reshaping the the web: community generated media.
In this case, the "community" -- some 300 thousand fanatical users -- has contributed an incredible 10 million of their favorite links to Web sites. Being Web 2.0-compliant, all these "bookmark" contributions are tagged (classified by category) and available for the community to access, analyze, and share. The article continues:
"Del.icio.us joins a growing stable of properties where Yahoo seeks to encourage hundreds of millions of its users worldwide to rely on the opinions of others -- -- their writings, photos, videos and Web links -- to search the Web."
As an aside, this weblog shares our agency's del.icio.us bookmarked articles in the far left-hand column (look carefully -- they're there towards the bottom of the page). It's a fascinating and dynamic way to share with ourselves and the world what we collectively see as noteworthy. If you're confused or wary -- I was, at first -- create an account and poke around for a bit. Trust me: it's addictive.
Now, for those looking for the "next" next thing ... let me point you to digg. It has all the tools and buzz that I think could make it an even bigger and better platform than del.icio.us. Give it a look and comment below or drop me an email with your thoughts.
Best,
- James Gardner
Group Director/Life Sciences Practice Leader
I agree, Digg is a great place to check on news thoughout the day. The podcast (available on iTunes, in audio and video) is one of my favorite weekly casts as well. - Jon
Posted by: Jon Borthwick | December 12, 2005 at 12:02 PM