Gawker: valleywag, myyearbook

MyYearbook scores $13 million to cater to more 13 year olds

Alaska Miller — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:40:00 EDT

MyYearbook, a social network for teens turned off by the old people thronging Facebook and MySpace, has raised an additional $13 million in venture capital. The social-network startup wooed by Barry Diller's IAC last year, but a deal never happened. The site claims to be the third biggest social network in the U.S.

Some prize: Numbers from Hitwise give MyYearbook 1.5 percent of U.S. traffic to social networks. Compared to MySpace's 71.9 percent and Facebook's 16.9 percent, that's a limp into bronze. Norwest Ventures Partners, US Venture Partners, and First Round Capital participated in this second round of funding. MyYearbook says that it will "use the money to create new services and make more money." One likely way it will do the latter: Dropping Glam Media as its online-advertising network so it can keep more of its advertising revenues.

MySpace still slapping Facebook around

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:20:13 EST

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg may be getting all the money and media attention lately, but News Corp.'s MySpace still dominates when it comes to traffic. The site commands more than 70 percent of visits to social networks, according to this latest chart from Hitwise. Still, its share declined 8 percent in the last year. Which might explain why News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch was rumored to be poking around runner-up social network Bebo recently. Oh, and by the looks of things, maybe Barry Diller should have acquired MyYearbook for IAC back when he reportedly expressed interest.

Did leak nix IAC's interest in MyYearbook?

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:11:36 EST

Yesterday, we floated a rumor that IAC was thinking about buying social network MyYearbook. Not the case, says Caroline McCarthy of News.com. Her sources hypothesize that MyYearbook's participation in a "mock pitch" session with IAC's Barry Diller at this week's Quadrangle conference was mistaken for something more than it was, a sort of moot court for entrepreneurs. We're not so sure. Our source told us that MyYearbook was "the winner" — and not just of that presentation. The site caught Diller's attention, possibly enough to set talks in motion. Were any potential talks nixed after word leaked to Valleywag? Quite possible. Diller likes to buy cheap, and rumors have been known to spark bidding wars. (Photo by saveena)

IAC to acquire MyYearbook

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:15:08 EST

A source tells us IAC is about to buy a social network with a CEO who actually managed to graduate Harvard. The new Diller thrillers? CEO Geoff Cook and his younger siblings, David and Catherine. Venture capitalists cashing in include First Round Capital's Chris Fralic and US Venture Partners's Rick Lewis. How much did IAC CEO Barry Diller have to pay to get this Facebook clone? We don't know yet. But now that word of the deal is out, you might as well tell us.