It was announced yesterday that Facebook acquired the content-sharing service FriendFeed for $50 million. The deal was signed in the wee hours of Monday morning (photo at left shows the FriendFeed and Facebook crews after the deal was signed; Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in athletic shorts).
The deal comes at a time when Facebook is facing increasing competition for social media relevancy from the likes of Twitter and Google. Here’s a round-up of the critical speculation following the news of the acquisition…
Kara Swisher, All Things Digital:
Now, one has to wonder if it wouldnt be easier if Google, the cash machine of a search giant, finally ponied up and bought the most recent star of Web 2.0? That would be, of course, Twitter. More…
Jason Kincaid, TechCrunch:
The biggest win here for Facebook is the FriendFeed team, which includes an all-star cast of ex-Googlers. More…
Josh Lowensohn, CNET:
One of the most important features FriendFeed has (that Facebook doesn’t) is a really solid search engine. On FriendFeed you can search for content from your friends, or the entire world. The best part is, you can save any search you’ve made and keep an eye on it for updates. More…