Why Yahoo Keeps Killing Everything It Buys
Another one bites the dust.
Yahoo has just acquired Meh Labs, the startup behind a self-destruct messaging app called Blink and a location check-in app called Kismet. And, as with so many Yahoo acquisitions before it, the tech giant intends to shut down both apps in the coming weeks.
Blink, which launched about a year ago, is a direct competitor to other mobile messaging products like WhatsApp and Snapchat, and the buyout is a strong sign that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer refuses to be left behind in the heated mobile messaging war being waged by competitors like Facebook. Just as Facebook did with its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp and $3 billion bid for Snapchat, Yahoo has been on a buying spree recently, snapping up small startups that are working on trendy new technology. But there’s a big difference between Mayer’s strategy and the one espoused by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.