eBay Buys StumbleUpon, Just As Google Launches Similar Feature
News broke today that eBay bought StumbleUpon, a website that has a community helping people find new interesting web pages. eBay reportedly paid about $40-45 million for the site, which has become hugely popular lately, beating out Google and AOL. No one really knows why eBay bought it, since it really isn’t their line of work, but somehow they wind up in the talks for every web acquisition. Maybe eBay needs to decide if it is going to be a marketplace or a web giant.
It’s very interesting that this happened the same time as Google released the new Picks For You feature for the Google Toolbar, competing directly with the similar button on Stumble’s toolbar. TechCrunch calls it raining on their parade. According to John Battelle, Google had built an entire DoubleClick killer, ready to launch in case Microsoft or someone else won the bidding for DClick, and “the timing is not coincidental”.
It’s weird. I was told by Google to prepare for the Picks For You feature to be released on Monday, then it was pushed off, going to be released Tuesday, but maybe Wednesday. Then, twenty minutes before the Stumble news hits TechCrunch, I get an email that the time for the launch has been finalized. Were the two related? I can’t say no, but I have no definite idea.
Oh, and DazzlinDonna, a big fan of Stumble, says she is happy that it wasn’t Google that bought it. I agree. Google isn’t a good fit for social sites, Yahoo is.
In other Google/eBay news, eBay unit PayPal and Yahoo are getting into bed together. Now, if a Yahoo advertiser uses PayPal, the ad on Yahoo will show a shopping cart icon, identical to what Google does with advertisers that use its Checkout service. C’mon, is it necessary to be blatantly copying like this?
Philipp produces the two company’s shopping carts. Google’s does look faster, and is a bolder blue, but Yahoo’s has a space for your kid to sit while you shop. Yes, I’m giggling right now.
“No one really knows why eBay bought it, since it really isn’t their line of work”. How about Googles recent purchases?
Comment by Lebanese Expatriate | April 19, 2007
Like DoubleClick? An advertising company? How is there any confusion there? Or YouTube? Or Tonic? Google’s purchases may sometimes be stupid, but they always stay on message.
Comment by Nathan Weinberg | April 19, 2007