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From reading some of the stuff Yahoo put out back in their prime. I always got the sense that they thought they would never fall and were maybe a bit invincible

From reading some of the stuff Yahoo put out back in their prime. I always got the sense that they thought they would never fall and were maybe a bit invincible. I think Zuckerberg and Facebook in general, are very aware that Facebook is on the decline, they need to diversify. That's why they bought Instagram and used it to flight Snap. That's why they spent such an insane amount on WhatsApp. Zuckerberg knows they need to create or acquire the next big thing to make it in the long term. At least, that's what it seems like to me. I have a feeling they aren't going anywhere soon because of this.

iamzozo 8y ago
Simply, they can't create the next big thing outside of facebook. That's why they bought things.
- philpem 8y ago
  Maybe they'll become the next Myspace? "Facebook? You still use that? Everyone's on MyFaceWebsiteBookThing now..."
- howard941 8y ago
  It's not just Facebook. Perhaps your employer (I know my Fortune 500 is this way) prefers acquisitions over developing new products in-house. From experience I know it saps motivation and good people move on but it seems to be a thing.
tokai 8y ago
>Zuckerberg knows they need to create or acquire the next big thing to make it in the long Isn't that exactly what yahoo did?
- cenal 8y ago
  They turned down buying Google. Zuck smartly buys his competitors.
  - throwaway2048 8y ago
    Yahoo bought plenty of other "next big things" Geocities, tumblr, flikr, viaweb, Broadcast.com, del.icio.us, zimbra, and hundreds of others besides. It wasn't clear at the time Google would be any kind of success, you are looking at things with hindsight.
    - jpatokal 8y ago
      Yahoo's acquisition track record goes beyond unlucky picking, it shows that they can't maintain or grow the services they bought either. Compare with Google: Maps (Where2), Earth (Keyhole), Waze, YouTube, DoubleClick were all acquisitions they grew to be far larger under Google than they were before. Disclaimer: I work for Google, although I have nothing to do with acquisitions.
      - rubyfan 8y ago
        At what point did Yahoo’s core business start to shrink or get the stench of being a loser? I have to imagine that Yahoo! acquiring them was a stinker for their users. Did anyone think of Yahoo as bringing strategic value to the services they were acquiring? By the time they bought delicious and tumblr they had a track record with flickr and any of the users of those services saw the acquisition as a negative.
    - dspillett 8y ago
      A key problem with some of Yahoo's acquisitions is that they missed the right point of the curve: buying things once they were already Quite A Thing. While this may look like a safer gamble than buying something small that might be a thing and the next big thing eventually, but might be nothing at all next month, getting in late can have two key problems: already being a thing means it commands a high price, and you already have an invested user-base who may fight tooth-and-nail (or simply leave) when you inevitably make changes.
      - malvosenior 8y ago
        I don’t think any of the properties Yahoo! bought were very big (by today’s standards). Del.icio.us was great but it was a hobby project compared to Instagram/WhatsApp.
- abhinav3103 8y ago
  Well! They are not just buying but improving it as well. Whatsapp and Instagram are the best example. Yahoo could not keep up the quality of any product that was acquired by them.
  - thijsvandien 8y ago
    How is WhatsApp “improved” by reducing privacy and adding ads?
    - sksksk 8y ago
      End to end encryption was added after the aquisition.
      - johnnyfaehell 8y ago
        While true, I am not really believing Facebook had anything to do directly with that happening. It seems like the entire industry was moving that direction and WhatsApp would've always had to implement it.
      - bad_user 8y ago
        Encryption was already in the works via a collaboration with Open Whisper Systems, the makers of Signal (see signal.org). AFAIK end to end encryption was actually part of the acquisition deal. And now they regret it ;-)
- richardknop 8y ago
  But Yahoo pretty much ruined companies they bought like Tumblr for example. I’m not saying Facebook won’t make the same mistake but so far they have done a relatively good job with Instagram and WhatsApp. Both of them are very popular and growing. Much different story than Yahoo, at least so far.
  - jjeaff 8y ago
    I think since they have just this year pushed out the founder of Instagram and will presumably be taking more control of Instagram, we will see how they actually do with it going forward. Up until lately, Instagram has had relative atonomy.
  - throwawaylolx 8y ago
    >they have done a relatively good job with Instagram and WhatsAp WhatsApp announced that they'll introduce ads, and the co-founder left the company due to privacy concerns.
    - product50 8y ago
      That has nothing to do with whether WHatsapp will continue to grow or not.
      - propogandist 8y ago
        Yes it does. Users of the platform today are uninterrupted by ads and have no reason to think about how the platform is mining their data -- many are unaware its owned by FB. Depending on the intrusiveness of the ads, users may opt to move to another platform, which will lead to more people being pulled away from Whatsapp. FB will have to monetize aggressively to recoup investments and keep wallstreet happy, but users may not be very receptive to ads within their messaging platform.
surferbayarea 8y ago
Well tiktok is not for sale.
onetimemanytime 8y ago
FB is a victim of their own success. "Everyone" has FB. Now some people grow out of it, use smaller apps to do what they used FB 99% of the time. The world moves fast, FB cannot change with each fad as money for the next qtr is on the line. They are buying new competitors but frankly they should not be allowed by the governments.
dartf 8y ago
One of the reasons I stopped using WhatsApp and Instagram is that they got acquired by FB...

iamzozo 8y ago

Simply, they can't create the next big thing outside of facebook. That's why they bought things.

philpem 8y ago
Maybe they'll become the next Myspace? "Facebook? You still use that? Everyone's on MyFaceWebsiteBookThing now..."
howard941 8y ago
It's not just Facebook. Perhaps your employer (I know my Fortune 500 is this way) prefers acquisitions over developing new products in-house. From experience I know it saps motivation and good people move on but it seems to be a thing.

tokai 8y ago

>Zuckerberg knows they need to create or acquire the next big thing to make it in the long Isn't that exactly what yahoo did?

cenal 8y ago
They turned down buying Google. Zuck smartly buys his competitors.
- throwaway2048 8y ago
  Yahoo bought plenty of other "next big things" Geocities, tumblr, flikr, viaweb, Broadcast.com, del.icio.us, zimbra, and hundreds of others besides. It wasn't clear at the time Google would be any kind of success, you are looking at things with hindsight.
  - jpatokal 8y ago
    Yahoo's acquisition track record goes beyond unlucky picking, it shows that they can't maintain or grow the services they bought either. Compare with Google: Maps (Where2), Earth (Keyhole), Waze, YouTube, DoubleClick were all acquisitions they grew to be far larger under Google than they were before. Disclaimer: I work for Google, although I have nothing to do with acquisitions.
    - rubyfan 8y ago
      At what point did Yahoo’s core business start to shrink or get the stench of being a loser? I have to imagine that Yahoo! acquiring them was a stinker for their users. Did anyone think of Yahoo as bringing strategic value to the services they were acquiring? By the time they bought delicious and tumblr they had a track record with flickr and any of the users of those services saw the acquisition as a negative.
  - dspillett 8y ago
    A key problem with some of Yahoo's acquisitions is that they missed the right point of the curve: buying things once they were already Quite A Thing. While this may look like a safer gamble than buying something small that might be a thing and the next big thing eventually, but might be nothing at all next month, getting in late can have two key problems: already being a thing means it commands a high price, and you already have an invested user-base who may fight tooth-and-nail (or simply leave) when you inevitably make changes.
    - malvosenior 8y ago
      I don’t think any of the properties Yahoo! bought were very big (by today’s standards). Del.icio.us was great but it was a hobby project compared to Instagram/WhatsApp.
abhinav3103 8y ago
Well! They are not just buying but improving it as well. Whatsapp and Instagram are the best example. Yahoo could not keep up the quality of any product that was acquired by them.
- thijsvandien 8y ago
  How is WhatsApp “improved” by reducing privacy and adding ads?
  - sksksk 8y ago
    End to end encryption was added after the aquisition.
    - johnnyfaehell 8y ago
      While true, I am not really believing Facebook had anything to do directly with that happening. It seems like the entire industry was moving that direction and WhatsApp would've always had to implement it.
    - bad_user 8y ago
      Encryption was already in the works via a collaboration with Open Whisper Systems, the makers of Signal (see signal.org). AFAIK end to end encryption was actually part of the acquisition deal. And now they regret it ;-)
richardknop 8y ago
But Yahoo pretty much ruined companies they bought like Tumblr for example. I’m not saying Facebook won’t make the same mistake but so far they have done a relatively good job with Instagram and WhatsApp. Both of them are very popular and growing. Much different story than Yahoo, at least so far.
- jjeaff 8y ago
  I think since they have just this year pushed out the founder of Instagram and will presumably be taking more control of Instagram, we will see how they actually do with it going forward. Up until lately, Instagram has had relative atonomy.
- throwawaylolx 8y ago
  >they have done a relatively good job with Instagram and WhatsAp WhatsApp announced that they'll introduce ads, and the co-founder left the company due to privacy concerns.
  - product50 8y ago
    That has nothing to do with whether WHatsapp will continue to grow or not.
    - propogandist 8y ago
      Yes it does. Users of the platform today are uninterrupted by ads and have no reason to think about how the platform is mining their data -- many are unaware its owned by FB. Depending on the intrusiveness of the ads, users may opt to move to another platform, which will lead to more people being pulled away from Whatsapp. FB will have to monetize aggressively to recoup investments and keep wallstreet happy, but users may not be very receptive to ads within their messaging platform.

surferbayarea 8y ago

Well tiktok is not for sale.

onetimemanytime 8y ago

FB is a victim of their own success. "Everyone" has FB. Now some people grow out of it, use smaller apps to do what they used FB 99% of the time. The world moves fast, FB cannot change with each fad as money for the next qtr is on the line. They are buying new competitors but frankly they should not be allowed by the governments.

dartf 8y ago

One of the reasons I stopped using WhatsApp and Instagram is that they got acquired by FB...