It was only a few weeks ago (12 to be exact) that we were looking at the IntoNow iPhone app which enabled users to identify and connect over TV shows. Well, Yahoo was apparently so impressed with the company and technology that it has purchased IntoNow.
There’s no official word on how much Yahoo is paying for IntoNow but TechCrunch is saying that it’s between $20 to $30 million.
“Relying on social channels as a means for discovering content – whether it’s on a PC, mobile device, or TV – is rapidly on the rise. IntoNow’s technology combines the ability to check-in to what a consumer is watching, engage in conversations, and find related content,” said Bill Shaughnessy, SVP of Product Management and Product Marketing at Yahoo, in a prepared statement. “The IntoNow application the team has built clearly demonstrates the opportunities the technology presents across Yahoo!’s network, especially in regards to our video content, search, mobile and Connected TV experiences. We are excited to have the IntoNow team join Yahoo! as we continue to build out these experiences.”
What can we expect from this deal? Well, Yahoo has been doing some cool things on the mobile side that may have fallen under the radar and the IntoNow technology could easily augment that on the content and advertising sides.
The LiveStand app, for instance, could bring additional content by integrating what the user is watching to this digital magazine app. That may take a while to actually happen though.
Yahoo also has a notorious reputation for making big acquisitions and then the team fizzles to a certain degree. I think that reputation is a bit overstated and has more to do with integrating a startup into a corporate giant (look at Google’s failures in this area too).
We’ll be sure to keep an eye on this one.
[Via IntoNow, TechCrunch]