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MySpace to acquire Photobucket
Well dangit, the year of the acquisition is continuing. Valleywag is reporting that MySpace is in the process of acquiring Photobucket. I agree with Matthew when he says, "Photobucket accounts for more than 70 percent of MySpace’s photo traffic, according to Hitwise. In other words, it has pretty much the same relationship to MySpace as PayPal had to eBay way back when." Matt believes this has a 80 percent chance of going through.
Pete provides a quick overview of Photobucket, "Launched in 2003, Photobucket receives 17m unique visitors per month – a massive number, except that the majority of traffic was being referred by MySpace (despite constant denials from the company)."
This deal makes sense for MySpace – why let someone else monetize and capitalize on their traffic when they can bring it in house. Check out our previous Photobucket coverage. This scenario will play out over and over within the next 12 months. I will bet that we will see at least 8 more deals like this one in 2007.
Oh, man… this is insane.
I like competition because it’s healthy, so I tend to have a small heart attack when one company buys a competitor. My real question is… what’s in this for us? Usually acquisitions like this only serve to benefit the company and shaft the consumer…
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Wacky Labs — This is supposed to look like a sig!
myspace and photobucket are not competitors they are complements. – just like a coffee company buying the company that supplies the beans
You -as a Photobucket customer- will receive a free MySpace account to expose yourself. On top, you’ll have the opportunity to be profiled and all your data will be sold by Rupert Murdoch! :)
I disagree… they both provide video and photo hosting as a service.
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Wacky Labs — This is supposed to look like a sig!
yea, true. but myspace provided the video and photo hosting on a much smaller scale from what I understand.
The real question is whether other providers in this area (photo/video) will be shut out now.
good point Till – so myspace gains a potential new customer base as well.