• Marketing Land
  • Sections
    • MarTech
    • CMO
    • Social
    • SEM
    • SEO
    • Mobile
    • Analytics
    • Display
    • Email
    • Retail
    • Video
    • Home
  • Follow Us
    • Follow
  • Marketing Land
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Mobile
  • Analytics
  • Display
  • Retail
  • MarTech
  • More
    • Follow
  • SUBSCRIBE

Marketing Land

Marketing Land

Lean into your data

To improve CX, brand loyalty

What's ahead for ad tech?

More consolidation

Events

Join us at SMX Advanced!

  • MarTech
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Mobile
  • Analytics
  • Display
  • Email
  • Retail
  • Video
  • Newsletters
  • Home
CMO Zone

Get the most important digital marketing news each day.

Note: By submitting this form, you agree to Third Door Media's terms. We respect your privacy.


FTC Okays Facebook’s Instagram Purchase; What’s Next?

Matt McGee on August 22, 2012 at 7:04 pm
  • More

facebook-instagram-logosFacebook officially owns Instagram.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously to approve the deal after reviewing potential antitrust issues. From the organization’s news release:

The Federal Trade Commission has closed its nonpublic investigation of Facebook’s proposed acquisition of Instagram, Inc., without taking any action. Accordingly, the deal may now proceed as proposed.

The two companies announced the deal in early April and reports pegged the value at $1 billion in cash and stock. Facebook has since gone public, its stock price is about half of what it was on opening day, and the deal’s current value is far less than a billion dollars.

What Happens Next?

Unlike many tech mergers/acquisitions, Facebook’s Instagram purchase involves a substantial user base that, according to Instagram, recently reached more than 80 million people. Facebook was buying much more than a photo sharing app; it was buying a passionate community — many of whom were not thrilled about the news.

That makes the possible integration of Instagram into Facebook a delicate topic.

It’s reminiscent of Yahoo’s 2005 purchase of Flickr — a deal that prompted a minor revolt among some Flickr users, especially when Yahoo announced that all Flickr users would need to convert to Yahoo accounts to continue using the service.

When he announced the Instagram deal, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to tread carefully.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

We reached out to Facebook today to find out if that’s still the plan, but a company spokesperson would only provide this reaction to the FTC’s announcement:

“We are pleased that the Federal Trade Commission has cleared the transaction after its careful and thorough review.”

Instagram has continued to develop new features while waiting for the deal to close. Its users will no doubt be watching to see if that continues now that it’s officially part of Facebook.



About The Author

Matt McGee
Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.

Popular Stories

FAQ: Google Chrome ad blocking is here. Everything you need to know
7 Things CMOs Need To Know About Search Engine Marketing
Stealing Your Competitor’s Customer: A Step-By-Step Guide
6 of the best social listening tools for 2019

Related Topics

Channel: CMO ZoneFacebook: AcquisitionsFacebook: InstagramFeatures & AnalysisSocial Media Marketing

Get the most important digital marketing news each day.

Note: By submitting this form, you agree to Third Door Media's terms. We respect your privacy.


We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

Attend Our Conferences

Gain new strategies and insights at the intersection of marketing, technology, and management. Our next conference will be held:

April 3-5, 2019: San Jose

September 16-18, 2019: Boston

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

April 2-3, 2019: SMX Munich

May 21-22, 2019: SMX London

June 3-5, 2019: SMX Advanced

June 12-13, 2019: SMX Paris

Sept 30 - Oct 1, 2019: SMX Advanced Europe

November 13-14, 2019: SMX East

×

Attend SMX - Click Here


Learn More About Our SMX Events

White Papers

  • The Ultimate Guide to Site Search User Experience
  • The Marketing Analytics Buyer’s Guide 2019
  • Mission Possible: Quality Content Marketing
  • 2019 Marketing Trends: Nine factors reshaping marketing and how you can stay ahead of them
  • The Dummies Guide to Enterprise Customer Data Platforms
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • Google’s Black Box Bidding Solution: A look under the hood
  • 2019 Martech Trends You Need To Know
  • How to Prepare for a Successful Marketing Analytics Implementation
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Account-Based Marketing Tools
  • Enterprise SEO Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
  • Paid Media Campaign Management Platforms
  • Local Marketing Automation Tools
See More Research
Digital Agency e-Book
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Marketing Land
Download the Marketing Land app on iTunes Download the Marketing Land App on Google Play

Follow Us

© 2019 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.