Would you delete your Plaxo account if Facebook bought them?
The "hot" news this evening that Facebook is rumoured to be buying Plaxo. VentureBeat, it seems, first reported the rumour but has now noted that it’s a (pretty much) done deal:
Facebook is “one hundred percent” buying Plaxo, we’ve just heard from a source.
This follows a rumor previously published by Valleywag asserting that such a deal is underway.
While these types of rumors should be taken with more than a grain of salt, others have reported hearing that Plaxo is for sale: Some have said Plaxo is looking for a price of $100 million and others that it has received an unsolicited offer of $200 million. Facebook, meanwhile could stand to gain a lot through Plaxo, as separate, inside sources have pointed out to me. Source: VentureBeat » Facebook buying Plaxo?
The folks at TechCrunch are taking issue with the apparent finality figuring that Facebook doesn’t need what Plaxo has:
There are now more rumors about the acquisition; specifically that Facebook is the buyer. VentureBeat
is saying they have a source confirming the deal is “100%” happening. Our sources (and common sense) say its very unlikely any offer has been made, let alone accepted, and that Facebook may be just one of many companies taking a look at Plaxo.
Let’s look at the numbers. Plaxo reportedly did around $5 million in 2006 revenue, doubling that to $10-$12 million in 2007. 2008 projections are $20-$25 million. The company has just 1.8 million worldwide visitors per month (Comscore), less than 2% of Facebook’s 100 million monthly visitors. At current growth rates Facebook is adding around 10 million unique visitors per month. Putting this deal into perspective: Facebook grows a Plaxo every six days or so. And Comscore says 25% of Plaxo visitors are already coming to Facebook anyway. Source: Plaxo And Facebook Merger Rumors False (So Far)
First off I think the irony here is just luscious. Scoble was booted off Facebook for using a script engineered by Plaxo to collect his contact information, and not it seems that Facebook is just going to buy the buggers so they can help people sync up the various contact points. I agree with the VentureBeat assessment, Plaxo gives Facebook a powerful set of tools (though I think they’d have to beef up the OS X support) that Facebook members could leverage to be able to sync up their e-mail address books (yes I know only "old" people email) and perhaps their phones as well. This sounds great, wow, what a coup, unfortunately…
It also creeps the snot out of me. I’m not a huge fan of Facebook, as you well know, and Plaxo for me has really only been a backup solution for my address book (but now I don’t think I need it even for that). Plaxo Pulse, sure I played with it, but it just doesn’t hit my radar. Sure the idea of having a single stream of information from my closest contacts sounds like a great idea, but in reality it gave "drinking from an information fire hose" a whole new meaning.
The potential of a Facebook-Plaxo deal gives me real pause. Given that I really don’t need Plaxo and I’m really not enthused about getting something saying "Hey 950 of your 1800 contacts are on Facebook…would you like to connect with them…." I think just ditching Plaxo once and for all might be a good idea–with or without a deal with Facebook.
The operative question would Facebook getting the tools and tech to sync your Facebook contact with your e-mail address book be a good thing for you or not? If not, would it be enough to drop one or both services?
See also Brian Solis’ comments on this potential purchase.
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POSTED IN: Social Media, Venture Capital, Web Services
1 opinion for Would you delete your Plaxo account if Facebook bought them?
Harrison
Jan 15, 2008 at 1:16 pm
You probably should give Spokeo a try: http://www.spokeo.com You can connect with existing friends without sending more friend requests: http://blog.spokeo.com/?p=171
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