Metacafe Rumors Still Swirling
TechCrunch runs a rumor that Metacafe is being sold. We’ve been hearing about this for the past few weeks, but never from a source with first-hand knowledge of the deal. Both Metacafe and Yahoo, the rumored buyer, deny it up and down. TechCrunch’s Natali Del Conte hears the price at $200 to $300 million. The most common number we heard quoted was $700 million.
Update: Israeli news site, YNet reports that there is a sale pending, without offering up any details. Our sources say that while the company might have talked to a few suitors (who hasn’t), the deal is far from closing. We checked in with CEO Arik Czerniak who declined to comment.
Still, one cannot deny the fact that something is up, and we will be tracking this story closely. In a poll following the acquisition of Grouper, we asked GigaOM readers who was the most likely company to be bought. Nearly 55% said YouTube, while 16% said it would be Guba. Metacafe got 10% of the total 912 votes.
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$700m sounds high for what it is, iirc they are about 1/5 the size of GooTube which implies c $300 m, no doubt plus a premium for the paucity of alternative.
$700m sounds high for what it is, iirc they are about 1/5 the size of GooTube which implies c $300 m, no doubt plus a premium for the paucity of alternatives.
The Producer Rewards program they have will be a big plus to whoever buys them. All these YouTube creators are going to figure out someday that they are creating a lot of wealth for Google, and getting nothing in return.
Metacafe’s top 200 videos have many more views than YouTube’s top 200, not to mention the fact that Metacafe’s system makes your video surface on its own merit.