>> "I like this acquisition compared to alternatives. Google would Google-plus-ify it which would be bad. Facebook would absorb it into the newsfeed and fan pag

>> "I like this acquisition compared to alternatives. Google would Google-plus-ify it which would be bad. Facebook would absorb it into the newsfeed and fan pages. Apple would make it even more of a walled garden and part of iTunes." How about they other alternative - not getting acquired? They're one of the few big websites with a decent monetisation strategy other than 'collect personal data and put ads on it'.