eBay will likely use its $75 million acquisition to surface and recommend its vast inventory of auction and sale items.eBay announced May 31 that it has completed its purchase of social search Engine StumbleUpon for a total price of $75 million.
StumbleUpon, an early stage company that boasts about 2.3 million users, is a social recommendation search engine that offers new content based upon users' preferences and how they've rated pages they've previously seen through the engine.
"StumbleUpon is a great fit within our goal of pioneering new communities based on commerce and sustained by trust," said Michael Buhr, senior director, eBay, in a company statement. "StumbleUpon's downloadable toolbar provides an engaging and unique experience to its users, but it is the similarities in our approaches to the concept of community that make it such a compelling addition to eBay."
eBay is likely to integrate StumbleUpon's recommendation service into its auctions and sales as a way to surface less-trafficked items that may be of interest to shoppers with esoteric tastes.
Buhr will serve as general manager of StumbleUpon effective immediately, according to eBay. StumbleUpon's current founders and management team will remain in their respective positions.
eBay said it does not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on its financial guidance issued with its first quarter earnings release this past April.
