---
title: "Big Media Snapping Up Web 2.0 Startups – CBS, eBay, Fox, Google Announce Acquisitions Today"
date: 2007-05-30
author: "Richard MacManus"
categories:
  - name: "ReadWriteWeb"
    url: "/category/readwriteweb.md"
tags:
  - name: "2007"
    url: "/tag/2007.md"
---

# Big Media Snapping Up Web 2.0 Startups – CBS, eBay, Fox, Google Announce Acquisitions Today

**Update:** Google has [acquired Panoramio](https://web.archive.org/web/20101018152919/http://www.photographypress.co.uk/news/news.phtml/6247/7271/google-buys-photo-sharing-panoramio.phtml), a website that links millions of photos with the exact geographical location where they were taken. It’s all happening today!

![](https://web.archive.org/web/20101018152919im_/http://rww.readwriteweb.netdna-cdn.com/images/cbsonlinelogo.jpg)**(original post)** A lot of acquisition news has been released today, with the common theme that Big Media is buying successful web 2.0 startups. First it was CBS acquiring last.fm for $280M, which Josh Catone [wrote up](https://web.archive.org/web/20101018152919/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/cbs_buys_lastfm.php) earlier today. CBS has been very active in Web 2.0 activity lately. As well as today’s acquisition, CBS has been [courting web 2.0 sites](https://web.archive.org/web/20101018152919/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/cbs_new_online.php) – like Bebo, MuseStorm, Clearspring, Goowy Media and many more – in order to spread their content virally across social media sites. Also last week CBS announced its [Audience Network initiative](https://web.archive.org/web/20101018152919/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/cbs_expands_audience_network.php).

If anyone doubts that there is a market for web 2.0 startups, then they only need look at the interest mainstream media (like CBS) is showing in new Web technologies. Interestingly, last.fm notes [in its blog](https://web.archive.org/web/20101018152919/http://blog.last.fm/2007/05/30/lastfm-acquired-by-cbs) that “the openness of our platform and our approach to privacy won’t change” – which is undoubtedly going to be an ongoing issue with big media purchases of web 2.0 startups.

Also announced today, [eBay confirmed](https://web.archive.org/web/20101018152919/http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=NEWS_VIEW_POPUP_TYPE&newsId=20070530006201&ndmHsc=v2*A1177930800000*B1180584587000*DgroupByDate*J2*L1*N1000837*Zstumbleupon&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view_popup) the much-rumored StumbleUpon acquisition – and the price is $75 Million. The announcement included some hints about what eBay will do with StumbleUpon, a topic of a lot of speculation in recent months. With its approx 2.3 million users and its community recommendations technology, StumbleUpon offers a new viral way of shopping that will probably, in time, be integrated into the eBay e-commerce platform.

Finally, Fox Interactive Media [officially announced](https://web.archive.org/web/20101018152919/http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070530/20070530005639.html?.v=1) it has acquired photo and video sharing sites Photobucket and Flektor. The price wasn’t mentioned, but [Techcrunch says](https://web.archive.org/web/20101018152919/http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/30/myspace-confirms-photobucket-flektor-acquisitions/) it’s $300 million for Photobucket (including a $50 million earnout) and $15-20 million for Flektor. Fox described Photobucket as “one of the Web’s most popular photo- and video-sharing services” – but more importantly, it’s a perfect fit with MySpace. Indeed much of Photobucket’s traffic already comes via MySpace. Flektor was described as “a next-generation Web site that provides users with a suite of Web-based tools to transform their photos and videos into dynamic slideshows, postcards, live interactive presentations and video mash-ups.”

Things are heating up in the M&A; market, and one senses that Big Media honchos are under pressure to acquire some of these new-fangled Internet technologies – before their competitors do.

*Originally published on ReadWriteWeb ([archived copy](https://web.archive.org/web/20020204040018/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/big_media_snaps_up_web20_startups.php))*