Mr. Karp (via livestream.com)

Marco's confident Tumblr made the right call: "This is clearly what David believes is best for his product. On such big decisions, he hasn’t been wrong yet. This time, though, I don’t have any doubts." [Marco.org]

Dave Winer, on the other hand: "When you sell your company, no matter what promises were made, you sold it. It's theirs now. They will do what they want to with it. Promises don't matter." [Scripting News]

Sounds like former Tumblr president John Maloney is just irked he's being left out of the story. [Twitter]

Fab is reportedly raising a round somewhere in the ballpark of $250 million to $300 million, pushing the company's valuation north of a billion dollars. [Wall Street Journal]

The Senate, meanwhile, says Apple dodged, oh, about $44 billion in taxes. [Politico]

(Photo: Tumblr)

Yahoo! is taking over New York, whether you like it or not. After the long-awaited announcement that the old school web giant had purchased Alley darling Tumblr for a cool $1.1 billion, the company held a press event in Times Square to make another big declaration: Yahoo! will be consolidating its local offices into a giant hub in the old New York Times building. It's no Googleplex, but it'll do.

This announcement, of course, wouldn't be complete without a little cheerleading for the NYC tech scene:

Yahoo!’s growth in New York City is a reflection of how the city has become a global magnet for tech talent and entrepreneurism. We were so pleased to have Mayor Bloomberg join Marissa earlier today in our launch event in Times Square to help announce our new Yahoo! NYC offices. Since taking office, Mayor Bloomberg has worked to grow the local tech industry, positioning New York City as an ideal location for talented entrepreneurs to start and grow their companies.

Yahoo!'s post about the new office also mentioned that the company is looking to expand its NYC presence by as much as 60 percent, focusing especially on engineering. Be still, Mayor Bloomberg's cold, cold heart.

For now, Ms. Mayer said Tumblr will stay put in its swanky Flatiron HQ; Earlier today, Tumblr CEO David Karp promised that at the very least the staff would stay in New York, not forced to contend with the blinding sunshine of the Valley.

At the press event in Times Square, Yahoo! also announced that Flickr is getting a redesign to present a more photo-heavy feed, much akin to Instagram's profiles. (Marissa Mayer called it "heart-stoppingly beautiful.") The photo sharing site now offers a terabyte of free storage, which is a shit-ton of photos.

Meanwhile, if any Yahooers ever want to grab lunch with Betabeat, we're right around the corner, conveniently close to the Shake Shack.

Additional reporting by Kelly Faircloth

A user.

Dogs, creatures that lack opposable thumbs and thus the ability to read or operate any device, now have a social network–sort of. Where My Dogs At, a new, grammatically incorrect app, that locates nearby dog-friendly locales and rates them with user reviews. Think Yelp for animals that make that noise a lot.

And it's so quirky, as the Los Angeles Times notes. Instead of "checking in" to your favorite dog-friendly patio, one "marks their territory." If a place meets the butt-sniffing approval test, you give it a “paw of approval.” Users can create a Facebook-like profile to meet other dog owners and set up profiles for their dogs. Currently free for iPhone owners (Android will launch soon), it plans to make money by offering a fee to access "secret data," like hidden dog trails.

The app's orange-hued, grid-like layout coincidentally looks like that of gay meet-up app Grindr or Scruff. Incidentally, in the latter you send out "Woofs" to people you like, so we'll chalk this up to a missed opportunity.

Probably not the key to a new castle on the moon. (via)

In Pride and Prejudice, before achieving her happy ending with Mr. Darcy, Lizzie Bennett receives a marriage proposal from Mr. Collins, a toadying little man who offers a lifetime of a) stability and b) teeth-grinding annoyance. She turns him down, and her friend Charlotte promptly snaps him up. A 27-year-old woman of limited means in 18th century England, she's realistic about her options and grabs her best bet with both hands.

Let's not kid ourselves that Yahoo! is anything other than a Mr. Collins.

In many ways, Tumblr has made an advantageous and, yes, lucrative match. It's probably the biggest, splashiest exit since DoubleClick's $3.1 billion sale to Google. On Tumblr's end, investors exit nicely, David Karp has enough dough to buy any motorcycle sidecar that catches his eye, and everyone involved avoids a white-knuckled ride toward the end of the company's runway.

For Yahoo--naked breasts notwithstanding--it's a great way to purchase a whole bunch of young eyeballs and mobile users. Besides, if you've ever stumbled onto a Yahoo Answers thread, it's pretty clear their content can only improve.

But this isn't exactly a cake-and-confetti ending, either. Tumblr was reportedly running out of money, and it turns out the money wasn't coming in as fast as everyone thought, either. A source told Valleywag Tumblr's revenue for 2012, largely reported as $13 million, was actually less than $5 million, and Tumblr's Q1 revenues weren't where they needed to be to hit that $100 million end of year target. The company had just lost a string of execs.

According to TechCrunch, many at Tumblr felt $1.1 billion was just a first offer. Instagram, a less mature company, sold for a billion (though much of it was in stock, which reduced the ultimate price tag). AllThingsD says there weren't even competing deals--there's no Jack Dorsey pouting over how this played out.

Thinking along these lines, it seems Tumblr was less a success--wouldn't real success mean finding a way to monetize the business without hand-holding from a Valley behemoth?--and more that the New York City startup was simply lucky to have Yahoo as a willing rescuer. And while Mr. Karp has made a tidy sum, he won't be buying Larry Ellison's share of Lanai any time soon. A few more angels will get their wings, but it's hard to see a whole heavenly host coming out of this deal.

Meanwhile, Yahoo says the social network will remain independently operated, but it's highly likely that Mr. Karp's pretty art project--which he'd said he didn't want to flip for a big payout--will soon have more of the ads he's long resisted. (Anyone hearing early Tumblr investor Jakob Lodwick's dictum that "an acquisition is always a failure" echoing through their brain?) And while Marissa Mayer's made progress toward turning the Titanic, Yahoo has earned its reputation as a startup graveyard. Even if we're not looking at a Flickr or a Geocities scenario, that doesn't make Tumblr a savior for the ailing web giant. There's no guarantee it'll end up as successful an acquisition as YouTube. One analyst dares to compare the deal to AOL's purchase of the Huffington Post. Talk about a loveless marriage.

Well, there's always Etsy!

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

Get ready for some boozing 'n schmoozing, people! Its that time of the year again. That's right. Internet Week, a week-long festival celebrating all things Internet (business + culture + media + tech) is back in New York City!

It's our very own version of South by South West, and with over 45,000 folks expected to attend almost 400 events around town, it's safe to say things are gonna get a little crazy. There's tons of awesome events, but to make your life easier, here's my selection of 11 that you really, positively, absolutely shouldn't miss! (You're welcome.)

Keynote by Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times
When Everybody's a Reporter, What's a Reporter to Do?!! Good question. Hopefully Andrew Ross Sorkin has the answer.
Tuesday (May 21), 10:30 a.m. @ HQ Metropolitan Pavilion (Stage B), 125 W. 18th Street

The 17th Annual Webby Awards
Hosted by Patton Oswalt. Hallmark five-word speeches from Jerry Seinfeld, Grimes and Ben Stiller!
Tuesday (May 21), 6:30 p.m. @ CW Cipriani, 55 Wall Street

Conversational Marketing (CM) Summit 2013: Bridging Data & Humanity
Rockstar group of panelists including Ben Silbermann (founder and CEO, Pinterest), Jonah Peretti (founder and CEO, Buzzfeed), Mike Lazerow (founder, Buddy Media and now part of Salesforce Marketing Cloud), Fred Wilson (partner, Union Square Ventures) and others.
Tuesday (May 21), 9 a.m. @ The Altman Building, 135 W. 18th Street

Will The Morning Shows Survive The Digital Age?
As consumer behavior shifts from the TV to the smartphone, will the network morning shows make the transition or die trying? With Brian Stelter (author, Top of the Morning).
Wednesday (May 22), 8:30 a.m. @ HQ Metropolitan Pavilion (Stage A), 125 W. 18th Street

Big Data In The Big Apple: Meet the New Faces of NY’s Tech Scene
Taking a look at New York’s budding tech scene. Moderated by Scott Denne (Dow Jones VentureWire). Panelists include Neil Capel (CEO, Sailthru), Dan Crain (CEO, Whiptail), Jed Alpert (VP of marketing, 1010Data), Ari Jacoby (CEO, Solve Media), Chris Fralic (partner, First Round Capital) and Ben Woo (managing director, Neuralytix)
Wednesday (May 22), 1:00 p.m. @ HQ Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W. 18th Street

Randi Zuckerberg (Zuckerberg Media) interviewed by Emily Steel (Wall Street Journal)
Randi Zuckerberg sits down to talk about her growing media empire, her vision for the future, and her passion for helping people untangle their modern wired lives.
Wednesday (May 22), 3:00 p.m. @ HQ Metropolitan Pavilion (Stage B), 125 W. 18th Street

A Discussion Around Content, Commerce & Curation
With Pete Cashmore (founder, Mashable), Paul Berry (founder, RebelMouse), Scott Kurnit (CEO, Keep Holdings), Christene Barberich (editor, Refinery29) & others.
Wednesday (May 22), 6:30 p.m. @ Paley Center for Media, 25 W. 52nd Street, 10th Fl.

Keynote with Howard Lerman (CEO, Yext)
Yext CEO Howard Lerman will look at the layers of location, to see where companies you know well (like Yelp and Foursquare) are headed, and what's coming from ones you don’t.
Thursday (May 22), 10:35 a.m. @ HQ Metropolitan Pavilion (Stage B), 125 W. 18th Street

Future of Media: 2013
How traditional media are being impacted by the rise of digital media. Moderated by Patrick Phillips (founder, I Want Media). Panelists include Henry Blodget (editor and CEO, Business Insider), Cindy Jeffers (CEO and CTO, Salon Media Group), Jonah Peretti (founder and CEO, BuzzFeed), Roy Sekoff (president and co-creator, HuffPost Live) and Mark Thompson (CEO, New York Times Company).
Thursday (May 23), 1:00 p.m. @ CW NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute (Television Studio), 7th Fl., 20 Cooper Square

The 2013 Webutante Ball
The Internet's famous party of the year is back for its fifth year of revelry! Come hang with New York's hottest startup stars, media elite, venture capitalists, and agency spies. You can't miss this!
Thursday (May 23), 8 p.m. @ Marquee, 289 10th Avenue

Official IWNY NY HQ Closing Party
Join IWNY, Storyhunter, Spreenkler, and Mass Appeal for a rooftop soiree featuring some of New York's best DJ talent including Eli Escobar (Night People), Lauren Flax (CREEP), Blu Jemz (Night People), and DKDS (Dark Disco) or get your rap on in the hip hop karaoke in the Redroom.
Thursday (May 23), 7:00 p.m. @ CW The DL no. 95 Delancey Street

Until next time. Stay thirsty social, my friends! ;)

Snapchat.

Remember that nearly life-ending revelation that the photos sent from Android devices on Snapchat don't disappear? As in, they sit in some not-so-discreet folder called “RECEIVED_IMAGES_SNAPS,” where they're just waiting to be shown to the world. Well, a privacy watchdog is taking action for you by filing a complaint with the government in an effort to stop the nuisance.

On Friday, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The 8-page document lambastes the California-based app for its “deceptive business practices,” since it claims the photos are deleted when in many cases they are not. In Snapchat's privacy statement, it does hedge that it "cannot guarantee that the message contents will be deleted in every case."

EPIC writes that the app's loophole is in FTC's purview of cracking down on businesses that operate with "unfair and deceptive acts and practices." The Washington, D.C.-based activist group writes:

The Commission should require Snapchat to improve its data security practices, and specifically to ensure that photos and videos are in fact deleted such that they cannot subsequently be obtained by others.

Mary Ritti, Snapchat's vice president of communications, told the Los Angeles Times that there's always been ways to capture a snap (i.e. screenshots, or angling another camera toward the snap). She said the company does "not intend to make any further comment about this complaint."

(Photo: Facebook)

Each year on February 5th, lovers of the crack-laced hazelnut spread Nutella gather to create delicious recipes and spoon-feed each other scoops directly from the jar in celebration of World Nutella Day. But it appears that this year's festivities may have been the last.

News.com.au reports that Ferrero, the company that manufactures Nutella, has sent a cease and desist letter to Sarah Rosso, the creator of the event, telling her she must stop using their logo and name on her Facebook page, Twitter and website.

Ms. Rosso, who has basically been running a viral marketing campaign for Nutella for free and has this to show for it, will shut down nutelladay.com on May 25th, according to the site:

The cease-and-desist letter was a bit of a surprise and a disappointment, as over the years I’ve had contact and positive experiences with several employees of Ferrero, SpA., and with their public relations and brand strategy consultants, and I’ve always tried to collaborate and work together in the spirit and goodwill of a fan-run celebration of a spread I (to this day) still eat.

Meanwhile, Nutella fans on Facebook are none too enthused. "Nutella...more nuts in company management than in every jar," wrote one. "Idiots."

We'd call for a boycott of Nutella, but we all know it's not physically possible.

New name, soon.

After rumors swirled the past few days that food delivery companies GrubHub and Seamless were in talks to merge, the news is now official. Bloomberg reports that the companies are combining in an effort to out-deliver their competitors in the fast-growing online ordering sector.

Matt Maloney, CEO of Chicago-based GrubHub, will lead the merged entity while New York-based Seamless CEO Jonathan Zabusky will be its president. Financial details have not yet been released but neither company is paying to acquire the other. The company will be rebranded, although a new name hasn't been selected.

The combined company will beef up customers' offerings to more than 20,000 restaurants in 500 American cities, a press release states. Between the two companies, nearly $875 million were spent by cheesecake-at-2am-craving consumers, resulting in $100 million in revenue. The merger will help the companies further epand into that lucrative section of mobile food delivery. Nearly 30 percent of orders on GrubHub are conducted through mobile, while Seamless pulls in 40 percent of orders through its app.

Mr. Maloney told Bloomberg the company will continue to grow:

“This has nothing to do with cost savings; it has everything to do with increasing growth,” Mr. Maloney said. “We’re totally focused on the top line and how we continue to drive more orders for our restaurants.”

The deal will have to be approved by government regulators. In the mean time, can we get a Seamless discount code in celebration?

This is a guest post from Gary Sharma (aka “The Guy with the Red Tie”), founder and CEO of GarysGuide and proud owner of a whole bunch of black suits, white shirts and, at last count, over 40 red ties. You can reach him at gary [at] garysguide.com.

You know what's cool? A billion dollars, that's what! Huge congrats to David Karp and the folks at Tumblr. Billion-dollar exits form the cornerstone of a thriving tech ecosystem, and this is great news for New York tech.

It's finally here! Internet Week, that is. 45,000 people are expected to attend over 400 parties with keynotes by Randi Zuckerberg, Jonah Peretti (BuzzFeed), Joe Gebbia (Airbnb) and Joan Rivers!

The hottest party during Internet Week? That would, of course, be the Webutante Ball (a.k.a. the REAL #nerdprom!) And lucky for you, I have two FREE passes to give away. Interested? Of course you are! Apply here.

In non-Internet week news, tomorrow evening at the 92Y, my buddy Jeff Pulver (entrepreneur and early-stage seed investor) will be interviewing two famous brothers: Deepak Chopra (renowned spiritual guru) and Sanjiv Chopra (dean of the Harvard Medical School). Also this week is the OpenCo Innovation Festival (a cross between an artist's open studio, a tech conference and a music festival). Over a hundred startups will open their doors including Buzzfeed, Etsy, Fab, Foursquare, Kickstarter, RapGenius, Warby Parker and others.

Coming up on May 30 is Digital DUMBO's dd:IMPACT Groundswell with panelists from VICE, The Onion, Reddit, Buzzfeed, Pulse and Digg exploring the new era of campaigns, content, storytelling, media formats, and more. Also coming up are TechDrinkup on May 30 and Angelhack (the largest global hackathon competition!) on June 1.

Remember Startup Chile? Well, now I present to you Startup Brazil! Spend six months to a year down in South America and receive up to $98,971 in the form of monthly grants. Sounds like a sweet deal, eh? And with the World Cup coming up next year, Brazil is the place to be! Deadline to apply is May 31.

FYI, deadline for the summer edition of Startup Institute NY is May 26. The deadline for applying to the Code for America accelerator is May 31.

And finally, mark your calendars for May 26, people. That's when the hotly anticipated, all-new season of Arrested Developmentfinally arrives on Netflix! My buddy Jon has put together a hack to text you the minute the show hits Netflix servers. Just text ANN to 619-EGG-VEAL. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go practice my chicken dance, check on my frozen banana stand and get hopped up on a 53-episode marathon-viewing binge. You know how it is.

Let's see what's going down in the Alley this week...

Mobile Media Upfront
Monday (May 20), 8 a.m. @ New World Stages, 340 W. 50th Street

NYU ITP Spring Show
A two-day exhibition of recent interactive media projects by the graduate students of ITP.
Monday (May 20), 5 p.m. @ NYU ITP - Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway, 4th Fl.

MOUSE@15: Celebrating 15 Years of Inspiring Innovators
Honoring Bre Pettis (Cofounder and CEO, MakerBot) and Joanne Wilson (advocate, Best Buy Children's Foundation). Speaker Christine Quinn and the NYC City Council.
Monday (May 20), 6 p.m. @ The Pier 61, Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, 23rd Street and 11th Avenue

New York Crowdfunds 2
It's Shark Tank meets American Idol! Judges include Sabeer Bhatia (founder, Hotmail) and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe (New York Knicks, NBA Hall of Fame).
Monday (May 20), 6:30 p.m. @ WeWork Lounge, 154 Grand Street

New Yorks Next Top Makers Open Studio
Come catch up with New York’s Next Top Makers as they turn their product prototypes into businesses. With Bonus Table, MYBELL, Nautilus Bowl, Slide Table, The Power Clip and Tangeez!
Monday (May 20), 6:30 p.m. @ NYDesigns, 45-50 30th Street

Conversational Marketing (CM) Summit 2013: Bridging Data & Humanity
With Ben Silbermann (founder, Pinterest), Jonah Peretti (founder, Buzzfeed), Mike Lazerow (founder, Buddy Media), Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures) and others.
Tuesday (May 21), 9 a.m. @ The Altman Building, 135 W. 18th Street

[Internet Week] POSSIBLE presents Robert Scoble: The Age of Context
Robert Scoble (tech evangelist and author) will talk about the Age of Context, a future comprised of hyper-anticipatory and personalized services.
Tuesday (May 21), 12:30 p.m. @ Alley NYC, 500 7th Avenue, 17th Fl.

17th Annual Webby Awards
Hosted by Patton Oswalt. Hallmark five-word speeches from Jerry Seinfeld, Grimes and Ben Stiller.
Tuesday (May 21), 6:30 p.m. @ Cipriani, 55 Wall Street

Fireside Chat with Deepak Chopra
Two famous brothers Deepak Chopra (renowned spiritual guru) and Sanjiv Chopra (dean at Harvard Medical School) interviewed by entrepreneur and early-stage seed investor Jeff Pulver.
Tuesday (May 21), 8 p.m. @ 92Y Kauffman Concert Hall, Lexington Avenue and 92nd Street

OpenCo New York
A mix between a business conference and artist's open studio with the vibe of a music festival. Over a hundred innovative businesses will open their doors including Betaworks, Buzzfeed, Etsy, Fab, Foursquare, Kickstarter, Rap Genius, Warby Parker and others.
Wednesday (May 22), 4 p.m. @ The Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W. 18th Street

The NY Times - Technology Job Fair
Come grab a beverage, hang out with some cool tech folks and talk shop.
Wednesday (May 22), 5 p.m. @ New York Times, 620 8th Avenue, 15th Fl.

[Internet Week] A Discussion Around Content, Commerce & Curation
With Pete Cashmore (founder, Mashable), Paul Berry (founder, RebelMouse), Scott Kurnit (CEO, Keep Holdings), Christene Barberich (editor, Refinery29) and others.
Wednesday (May 22), 6:30 p.m. @ Paley Center for Media, 25 W. 52nd Street, 10th Fl.

Bitcoin and the Future of Money
With Felix Salmon (Reuters), Jaron Lukasiewicz (Coinsetter), Charlie Shrem (BitInstant) and Zach Seward (Quartz).
Wednesday (May 22), 7 p.m. @ General Assembly East, 902 Broadway, 4th Fl.

The Future Of Tech Startups
Dave Morgan (founder, Simulmedia) hosts John Battelle (cofounder, Open Co) and Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures). Drinks and food will follow the conversation.
Thursday (May 23), 4:30 p.m. @ Simulmedia, 670 Broadway

The 2013 Webutante Ball
The Internet's famous party of the year is back for its fifth year of revelry! Come hang with New York's hottest startup stars, media elite, venture capitalists, and agency spies. You can't miss this!
Thursday (May 23), 8 p.m. @ Marquee, 289 10th Avenue

The Phat Startup: How To Build A Million Dollar Site
With Chris "Broadway" Romero (Cofounder of Thisis50.com)
Friday (May 24), 6 p.m. @ WeWork Labs, 175 Varick Street

More events on the horizon...
Here a MOOC There a MOOC Everywhere a MOOC MOOC! on May 28 @ Knewton
Startup Grind NYC hosts Jon Steinberg (President, BuzzFeed) on May 29 @ ThoughtWorks
Peter Shankman Speaks Live On His Newest Book - Nice Companies Finish First on May 29 @ Affect Offices
dd:IMPACT Conference Groundswell: The Next Wave of Content (presented by Digital DUMBO) on May 30 @ Galapagos Art Space
#techdrinkup - Open Bar Summer Kickoff Rooftop Party on May 30 @ XVI Lounge
AngelHack NYC - Spring 2013 on June 1 @ Huge Inc
NYC BigApps CityCamp on June 1 @ New York Law School
Bizza90s: Tweet Me Baby One More Time on June 7 @ WeWork
F.A.T. Session 2: Sales/Use Taxation for 21st Century Commerce on June 11 @ Marks Paneth & Shron
NYTECH Presents: The Truth About VC Investing in New York and How To Get Funded on June 11 @ PwC
Inbox Awesome on June 13 @ The DUMBO Loft
Future Energy Investor Feedback Forum on June 13 @ Microsoft
NYTECH Presents: The Big Data Explosion: Using Cloud Computing to Clean Up the Mess on June 26 @ 10gen
Moonwalk NYC 2013 on July 20 @ Venue

Until next week. Stay thirsty social, my friends! ;)

They made a GIF! You guys love GIFs, right?!

The official announcement just hit the newswires. Yahoo has acquired Tumblr for $1.1 billion, "substantially all of which is payable in cash." Because really, who wants to bet on the stability of Yahoo's stock price?

In the press release, CEO Marissa Mayer tries desperately to explain the acquisition in any way she can besides admitting Yahoo wants to drink the blood of the young: "Yahoo is the Internet's original media network. Tumblr is the Internet's fastest-growing media frenzy. Both companies are homes for brands - established and emerging."

Mr. Karp also chimed in on, as always, the staff blog:

"The work ahead of us remains the same – and we still have a long way to go! – but with more resources to draw from."

He added, "Plus both our logos end with punctuation!"  He also signed the post, "Fuck yeah."

The new stepmom is also already trying to placate wailing, hysterical Tumblr users. From a note just posted to Yahoo's official 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.  Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster.

Let's go live to the Tumblr dashboard to get the reaction:

There's always Medium, maybe?