OK, Facebook is not for sale. But for how much ?
It’s not a rumor : Facebook is not for sale. And it’s not a rumor either, Google would like to buy Facebook. But they’re waiting to be approached… They may have become acquisition-shy at Google.
And it’s not a rumor, Microsoft wants to buy Facebook.
So what’s that rumor about? Well it’s just about how much. 6 billions or 10 billions ? Beware, because they may go for a Blitz IPO at Facebook, just to take everybody by surprise.
Facebook moved from a very well preserved college community to an open social network, where senior marketers poke each others and write on your wall like crazy (it’s the new cool way to pitch somebody), and now that Facebook have opened their API to developers, they definitely reached sanctity 2.0.
So Facebook is the new Youtube. 29 Million users, and not just teenagers.
OK, no one clicks on ads, because they may be more “educated” than myspace users (“sitting around their houses in their underwear chugging whiskey and clicking on ads like there is no tomorrow”).
But let’s look at the numbers : Facebook compared to Myspace and Youtube (Alexa).
See the blue line ? It’s Facebook.
Or this one (Google trends) :
This time it’s the yellow line.
Myspace was acquired for 580 M and Youtube for 1,6 billion. Now, even if Teenagers are leaving Myspace in mass to populate Facebook, and clicking through ads like crazy, where do the 10 Billions come from?
The only reason could be that Facebook is not just another growing community. If it becomes the single entry point to everyone’s online presence, the ultimate online identity provider, then they may well be in the buyers seat.
As far as I am concerned, if I find one good reason (except curiosity) to sign up to another social network, they may well be worth a few billions.
(And thanks to Google Blog search for all the references. I can live without Facebook, not without Google).
July 20th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
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