Yahoo Inc, the global search engine player and owner of the Yahoo web portal, has acquired the startup associated with the latest mobile app messaging sensation Blink. As per a report confirmed by TechCrunch, Blink is a mobile application that lets users send messages that self-destruct after a stipulated time.
Evidently, the competition among flash messaging mobile apps is sky high with well-established players, the pioneer Snapchat and popular Blink, along with the newbies like Frankly, Wickr, Confide, and others. Blink’s new owner, Yahoo Inc, has avoided revealing details around the deal, which could fall anywhere between multi-hundred millions to even billions of dollars. It remains to be seen just what exactly the damages were.
Blink, a product of a company cofounded by Kevin Stephens and Michelle Norgan called Meh Labs, the app was rolled out on iOS and Android platforms in April 2013. Meh Labs started out with a location-based service called Kismet that became an instant hit during the ’12 SXSW festival along with other similar apps, such as Banjo and Highlight. Following SXSW festival, things didn’t exactly really turned right for Kismet, which led Meh Labs to focus towards new emerging trends – private mobile messaging.
Image source – blog.blinkapp.co
The development was reported on the Blink’s official site as well that said, “We’re excited to announce that as of May 13, 2014, Blink is joining Yahoo! We built Blink because we believe everyone should be free to show the same honesty and spontaneity in their online conversations as they can in person. We look forward to the possibilities that will come from bringing the Blink vision to Yahoo. We can’t begin to express how grateful we are for your support throughout this journey. We hope you stick with us through the next chapter.”
The application will be closed down in a couple of weeks as Blink’s team gears up to work for Yahoo’s “smart communication” items. Further, the entire seven member strong Blink team, including the founders, will now be joining Yahoo Inc, as part of the deal it seems.
The terms of the deal were not unveiled and the arrangement comes days after Blink’s rival self-destruct app Snapchat settled some accusations made by United States regulators, Reuters reports. The application was blamed for misdirecting its clients and not educating them that their messages were removed permanently from their servers after they were received.
Marissa Mayer, Chief Executive Office (CEO), Yahoo Inc, has accelerated the company’s efforts to bolster its footing in online services for the smartphones and tablets industry. The firm has over 430 million monthly users of its mobile applications, and is increasingly getting more aggressive in consolidating a majority stake in servicing mobile consumers.
Yahoo has as of late obtained a few little new businesses as an exertion to strengthen its presence in the cell phone and tablet market. As buyers turn more to versatile advances to get to the web, other enormous organizations have been extending their efforts in that bearing. Facebook attempted to purchase Snapchat for $3 billion before the end of last year, but the offer was rejected. The world’s most popular social networking giant then went on to procure instant messaging application Whatsapp for $19 billion.