It's official: Yahoo buys Tumblr and promises "not to screw it up [like every other site it ever bought]"

It’s now official. After a week of speculation, Yahoo has announced that they have reached a deal with Tumblr to acquire the blogging service, worth approximately $1.1 billion in an all-cash deal.

Knowing users are very unhappy about the move, Yahoo has an agreement (and a promise “not to screw it up” – that’s in the press release, I should add) with Tumblr that will see the company be operated independently of  Sunnyvale and David Karp will remain the CEO of Tumblr.

“We promise not to screw it up. Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going. We will operate Tumblr independently. David Karp will remain CEO. The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve,” Marissa Mayer wrote in a Tumblr post.

“Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster.”

“Yahoo is the original Internet company, and Marissa and her team share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. I couldn’t be more excited to have her help. We also share a vision for Tumblr’s business that doesn’t compromise the community and product we love,” David Karp wrote on the official Tumblr blog.

“Plus both our logos end with punctuation!”

Tumblr will also get access to its personalisation technology and search infrastructure, helping its users discover more content; and both will work together in enhancing the user interface and create advertising opportunities.

Adding Tumblr to its company, according to Yahoo, will see its audience grow more than 50 percent to one billion monthly visitors, with traffic expected to grow approximately 20 percent. However, whether or not this will translate to actual hits to Yahoo’s website, as opposed to just Tumblr, remains to be seen.

The deal is subject to closing conditions and should be done by the second half of the year.