WordPress owner Automattic to purchase Tumblr from Verizon

Automattic, parent company of popular online publishing platform WordPress, has agreed to purchase microblogging service Tumblr from current owner Verizon for an undisclosed sum, it was reported on Monday.

Automattic is buying Tumblr for a "nominal amount" and will retain some 200 employees as part of the deal, according to The Wall Street Journal. The blogging service has changed hands three times in six years.

While terms of the sale were not disclosed, Automattic is likely paying significantly less than the $1.1 billion Yahoo shelled out for control of the site in 2013. At the time, the one-time internet search leader promised to "not screw it up," referencing its prior handling of photo sharing site Flickr.

Verizon took control of Tumblr as part of a $4.48 billion package deal for Yahoo's core assets in 2017. The move was designed to forward the mobile carrier's digital advertising and media efforts.

Verizon began the search for a buyer earlier this year, according to the report, which cited a source familiar with the matter as saying Tumblr's final sale price is not "material" to the wireless carrier.

A follow-up report from Axios puts the number at "well below" $20 million.

Tumblr enjoyed early success as a major player in the social media landscape, but has since been eclipsed by more popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Though it currently hosts more than 450 million blogs, the service is unable to turn a significant profit, Axios notes.

Last year, Tumblr enacted a blanket ban on adult content following criticism over lax policing of illicit images, a shift in part prompted by Apple's decision to remove the service's app from the iOS App Store due to failed child pornography filters. Users groused about the change in policy and took to other social media platforms to mock the company's singling out of "female-presenting nipples" as a prohibition target.

The App Store takedown and ensuing adult content ban led to a marked decrease in user engagement.

14 Comments

StrangeDays 12980 comments · 8 Years

About 5 years ago

Odd thing about that porn ban -- Tumblr is still chock full of every imaginable type of porn you can think of (web & app) . It's literally as if nothing has changed.

ireland 17436 comments · 18 Years

StrangeDays said:

Odd thing about that porn ban -- Tumblr is still chock full of every imaginable type of porn you can think of (web & app) . It's literally as if nothing has changed.

Not true. I’ve looked, lol. How you supposed to find porn when every porn keyword is blocked.

Crazy, 6 years ago (hard to believe it’s been six years) purchased for $1.1B and now worth less than $20. Looks like he sold on the crest of a wave.

And then there’s this: https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/verizon-to-sell-tumblr-to-wordpress-owner-automattic.html

seanismorris 1624 comments · 8 Years

ireland said:

StrangeDays said:

Odd thing about that porn ban -- Tumblr is still chock full of every imaginable type of porn you can think of (web & app) . It's literally as if nothing has changed.

Not true. I’ve looked, lol. How you supposed to find porn when every porn keyword is blocked.

Crazy, 6 years ago (hard to believe it’s been six years) purchased for $1.1B and now worth less than $20. Looks like he sold on the crest of a wave.

And then there’s this: https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/verizon-to-sell-tumblr-to-wordpress-owner-automattic.html

Not so hard to believe. Tumblr (as far as I can tell) was a haven for “alternative lifestyles”... nudists, swingers, body mods, etc. plus the garden variety porn and everyone else.

When Tumblr banned nudity (blame Apple) they killed off their core audience. They could have backtracked, there wasn’t a need for an App in the first place, but under Verizon that wasn’t going to happen. Financially Tumblr was a boat anchor...

Tumblr is guaranteed to be converted to WordPress and have a lot less overhead going forward. We’ll see if they can make it profitable...

I’d expect a return of porn from this comment:
Matt Mullenweg commented: "WordPress.com supports free speech and doesn't shut people down for 'uncomfortable thoughts and ideas', in fact we're blocked in several countries because of that."[21]

But,
WordPress.org on Apple iOS. ... There is only one official WordPress app for iOS, and it works with both .org and .com sites. To access your self-hosted (.org) site within the WordPress app, click on the link to “Add Self-Hosted Site”. Then, enter your username, password, and URL associated with that blog.

So, an App is possible. Maybe having it walled behind a username and password would be “good enough” but I doubt it with Apple... maybe Google.

baconstang 1160 comments · 10 Years

"Not so hard to believe. Tumblr (as far as I can tell) was a haven for “alternative lifestyles”... nudists, swingers, body mods, etc. plus the garden variety porn and everyone else."
Not to mention those challenged by spelling!

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

StrangeDays said:

Odd thing about that porn ban -- Tumblr is still chock full of every imaginable type of porn you can think of (web & app) . It's literally as if nothing has changed.

It's the unimaginable type of porn that scares me.