MSNBC buys out Newsvine
Interesting that Microsoft is purchasing itself into the web 2.0 world, it might be better for them to totally skip web 2.0 and go right to web 3.0. Microsoft does not have a big presence in the web 2.0 space, and the technology has been fairly well proven, there are a lot of good examples. Newsvine is one of the smaller sites, and one with basic similarities to Digg and Tailrank.
The deal, which closed on October 5, was all cash, but the acquisition price is not being disclosed. Both companies are based in Seattle. Mike Davidson, the founder of Newsvine, said that the companies will continue operating separately but that technology integration will occur over time. MSNBC has around 200 employees; Newsvine has just six… This brings the total number of meaningful acquisitions of social news sites to three: Fox bought Newroo in March 2006 for $7 million (it is currently MySpace News) and Condé Nast, owner of Wired, acquired Reddit in October 2006. Source: Techcrunch
The good part about this is that M&A activity is staying steady even with a credit crunch, and companies that provide a compelling spin on something have a pretty good chance of being bought out. The key thing is that the differentiators have to be there. Many people are chasing the same ideas at this point, and sites like newsvine are great to use, but with so many to choose from anymore it can become problematic to find a “new thing” in the crowded field.
In a satire, pmarca’s blog this morning joked about the bubble in web 2.0. At this point, with everyone chasing the same thing, it is probably a better idea to just skip web 2.0 and start working on web 3.0, smart money and smart companies are going to be there, rather than trying to make some new facebook application.
This ought to be interesting when it comes down to it, and while many of the details of the deal have yet to be released, it will be good to see what Microsoft does with further increasing their presence in web 2.0.
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