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Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

click india classifieds — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:46:31 -0000

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Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

mark — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:32:46 -0000

I might be one of them... so tempting lol

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

Brian Breslin — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:03:08 -0000

i too was taken aback at first by the size of the deal, but i've seen way more money dumped into much less popular sites outside of facebook in the form of venture money.

this is a great play for tripadvisor, they have great ties to the travel booking market, and this provides them with data on 2million+ users who are potentially future long term customers of expedia, etc. they now know where all these people want to go, and where their friends want to go...

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

DavidG — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:03:05 -0000

I'm not going to try justify the $3M ... but I do question your analysis here, Pete;

1) Switching costs are 99% of what they would be for an independant site. Users would still have to migrate their travel data. The login is the least of the switching cost.
2) Marketing costs are 1% of what they'd be for an independant site - (yes, I'm most probably exaggerating - but Facebook is the state of the art of word of mouth marketing and the "youth" of this App is proof of that.
3)Development costs are also a fraction of what it would cost to copy this App off of facebook.
4) Monetization is not a challenge for TA/Expedia - marketing is - hence this play. This App doesn't need to earn a cent on facebook to pay for itself. Which explains why we're going to see (a lot?) more of these deals.

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

abraham — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:27:37 -0000

$1.30 per user isnt bad at all. Google paid $40 per user for YouTube, and it could easily be said that users could easily switch to a rival video service.

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

MyZine.com — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:57:24 -0000

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Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

seth goldstein — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 02:53:56 -0000

As co-founder of SocialMedia I am clearly bullish on the value of Facebook applications as real media properties. That being said, I lived through the late 90's bubble with a front row seat as a Venture Capitalist at Flatiron Partners and try to be careful to keep my feet on the ground.

One thing that is super clear to me, however, is that Langley Steinert (Co-Founder of TripAdvisor) and the rest of the IAC M&A team are *not* dummies. In fact, they are careful, analytical and value-oriented. If they indeed paid this much for Where I've Been, then they clearly see something that could be worth far in excess of what they paid.

Online Travel was the first E-Commerce category to make total sense online as a self-sustaining business. It makes perfect sense, and is extremely promising, that this was the first acquisition of note on the new F8 platform.

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

Jesse — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 02:53:04 -0000

You can see that the app has been posting solid growth since its inception: http://appaholic.com/displa...

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

Tradervic — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:44:49 -0000

Boy do I love America. Everytime I read a story like this, I feel more determined to launch my own site. I tip my hat to Craig.

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

Jimmy Huen — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:31:15 -0000

I hope it is not yet peaked. I have yet to launch mine. Congrats to Craig though ... that must be 3 of the easiest million one can make in a lifetime.

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

Ben Strackany — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:11:02 -0000

Hmm, time to start working on a few facebook apps...

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

gettit — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:38:34 -0000

Congrats to Craig, that is fabulous for him. For TripAdvisor, I would think not so much.

Not only does it seem high, but I'd think they'll start losing a lot of users as TripAdvisor tries to recoup that investment.

Still-- awesome in a lot of ways.

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

RBA — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:12:52 -0000

Peak? Maybe in insanity but certainly not in apps. I see hundreds of developers starting their own Facebook apps about "whatever" this same night!

Re: INSANITY: Facebook App Sells to TripAdvisor for $3 Million

Wally — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:02:53 -0000

Would this make Top Friends worth nearly $16 million?