MyBlogLog Acquisition Aftermath
September 7th, 2007 | Categories: acquisitions, blogs, launch, marketing, networks, social media, strategy
When MyBlogLog launched in late 2006, it caught fire. Many of the big tech blogs immediately jumped on board and started using the service. This fueled massive PR and popularity shot to unprecendented heights. Soon, all the big tech blogs were taking advantage of the service. Then, only a couple of months later, Yahoo buys the company for $10 million. Since then, very little has changed and not much has been said about the company.
This simple, yet ingenious idea sparked for one reason: it provided value for both the blogger and the reader. The blogger was provided with a tool that encouraged repeat visitor loyalty, while the reader gained awareness and exposure (via the displayed avatar) in return.
After the Yahoo acquisition, the success and appeal of the service seemed to die off. To some degree, it became overrun with spam. Some were adding as many contacts as possible to market their blog, while others advertised via their personalized avatar. This was predictable. As is the case with Digg, any social media property that vaults to fame and attracts a large user base becomes susceptible to cheating and gaming.
Nevertheless, I am itching to know when the company will make some sort of announcement or launch a new version. Furthermore, how Yahoo plans to integrate the service is even more of a mystery. I assume this will become more clear in the days ahead with the transition strategy now in full-tilt.
How do you think MyBlogLog should proceed? How should Yahoo integrate the service?
September 9th, 2007 at 2:43 am
I watched with interest as MyBlogLog started to gather momentum and I was quite surprised to see it snapped up so quickly by Yahoo! I’m sure that behind the scenes they are working to integrate it into Yahoo itself and this is why the silence. Either that or the classic case of big company slowdown once you are integrated within a large entity such as Yahoo. For a small company is nimble and can make changes quickly without needing to get something passed by people higher up.
September 9th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
They need to tie it into the overall Yahoo brand, or more specifically Yahoo user base. Right now the service is still a seperate silo which doesn’t bring other Yahoo users to a blog that uses the MyBlog service.