Automattic acquires blo.gs

Yahoo! doesn't hesitate to hand over its blog pinging service, blo.gs to Automattic

Automattic, the company which created the WordPress blogging platform, has acquired blo.gs from Yahoo!, reports peHUB.  Financial terms have not been disclosed yet.

Blo.gs is a service which helps users keep track of their favorite blogs through automatic pinging via web and email, similar to Google Alerts.  It was originally acquired by Yahoo! in 2005.  

Yahoo! was apparently, “refreshingly quick and focused to work with on this deal,” says Toni Schneider in his blog, who handles these deals over at Automattic.  

Matt Mullenweg of Automattic, blogs that he’s been a long-time fan of blo.gs, and it even inspired an early WordPress feature, which reorganizes blogrolls by date and time.  Blo.gs says in its News posts, that it is looking forward to, “beefing up and refreshing its service,” through this transfer of ownership.

WordPress is Automattic’s open source blogging tool.  Anybody can download the package and create a customized blog page in just a few minutes which they can upload to their site.  Also, users can create blogs on the WordPress site without having to download the open source package.  Automattic is a San Francisco based start-up which has raised about $30 million in VC funding to date.