Tumblr isn’t doing Verizon any favors, so they’re looking to offload it onto someone else.
After acquiring the social media site only two years ago in 2017, Verizon Communications Inc. is now reportedly hoping to sell off Tumblr. Several reports about this news are currently going around online, with some even guessing who the next company to own Tumblr will be.
Reuters says that the reason for the sale is Verizon Media Group’s attempts to “improve its fortunes.” Currently, the company has more than 50 websites under its banner such as TechCrunch and Huffington Post.
When it comes to the wireless carrier and the micro-blogging site’s relationship, Verizon’s ownership of Tumblr wasn’t actually intentional. Yahoo acquired Tumblr back in 2013 as a way to entice younger users into using the company’s services. Unfortunately, that venture didn’t work out, and Yahoo was eventually sold off to Verizon in 2017. This led to Verizon owning Yahoo-owned sites such as Tumblr.
The telecommunications company has been dealing with some lows in the finances department recently. In 2018, it sold off Flickr, another Yahoo-owned site, to SmugMug. Despite this, Verizon says that its executives are still ‘committed’ to the company’s assets. CEO Hans Vestberg says, “I hope there is no doubt about our commitment to Verizon Media Group and how it fits into our whole strategy.
As for the companies interested in buying Tumblr, it turns out that one of them is Pornhub, currently the biggest host of adult material on the world wide web. This seems rather ironic, since Tumblr’s biggest downfall came after the site banned pornographic material late last year.
