Analysts claim that Yahoo needs a bigger presence in the social networking scene.
Social networking site Facebook may be bought by online search giant Yahoo for $1 billion, according to a report first published by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Facebook executives have already had talks with Microsoft, Viacom and Yahoo in the past. comScore Media Metrix reported that 14.8 million unique visitors visited Facebook in August, 2006. Since analysts believe Yahoo has “lost its touch” with the younger crowd, the acquisition like Facebook would be a wise choice.
Viacom offered $750 million to try and buy the site in January, but was turned down by Mark Zuckerberg, the 22-year-old founder of the site. Zuckerberg is still undecided on whether or not he will sell Facebook. Yahoo has offered $1 billion plus incentives that include keeping the site somewhat independent and keeping Zuckerberg in charge as CEO. “I’m building the company for the longer term,” Zuckerberg recently said.
Even if Facebook is not sold to Yahoo, changes are on the horizon for Facebook. The site was originally launched for university students with a valid “.edu” e-mail address, but now high school students are able to join the site. Employees from a select handful of companies are also able to use Facebook. Open registration for the site is most likely coming soon. Because of the increasing popularity of competing social networking site MySpace, having open registration for Facebook may be required.
News source: DAILYTECH
