This is the umpteenth comment I’ve read in a similar vein, and the short-sightedness is just astounding. “Tumblr is a low information network!” “Tumblr has low revenues!”
It. Doesn’t. Matter.
Mayer is not paying a billion dollars for what Tumblr is, but for what it has the potential to be. Tumblr is low information now, but already they can do a decent job of extrapolating what blogs you might be interested in. By collecting more information (on a voluntary basis, of course), they could create a much more powerful graph.
Of course, it’s never going to rival what Google has. (I’m dubious of just how good Facebook’s information is – people are not as interested in filling out web profiles as they were in the 90’s/00’s).
People love being on Tumblr. That’s what’s important for Mayer. She’s on the right track.
