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Yahoo acquires media sharing platform Ptch

The Yahoo bid for Ptch may have more to do with personnel than software. 

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Ptch
The media sharing platform Ptch has been acquired by Yahoo.
  • By Matthew Shaer

Ptch, a movie sharing platform in the mold of Instagram, has been acquired by Yahoo for an undisclosed sum. 

Writing on the Ptch site, co-founder Hans Ku said "as part of the Yahoo team, we’ll be able to focus our efforts and leverage our technology to make Yahoo’s photo and video platforms the best in the world." He added that on Jan. 14, Ptch will be permanently shuttered, presumably so it can be completely folded into Yahoo. (Click here for some tips on saving current content to the camera roll of your smartphone.) 

Ptch, which was originally backed by the animation studio Dreamworks, allowed users to cobble together movie clips from the media on their phones or tablets. Those clips could then be shared with friends and followers, who had the capability to edit or share them further. Like Instagram, Ptch encouraged users to flag particularly good content with a "Like" button. 

"We thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool to create a platform where mass consumers could quickly and easily create high production value content in a way that's very social and leverages the insights we've gained from storytelling and visual experience?' " DreamWorks CTO Ed Leonard told Fast Company back in 2012. 

Yahoo hasn't said exactly what it plans to do with Ptch, although Matthew Panzarino argues it may have more to do with personnel than software. 

"This continues Yahoo's strategy of absorbing talent in the mobile app design and development space," Panzarino writes. "Yahoo is in the process of retooling all of its offerings to be mobile-centric, and developing new properties to bolster its media empire. In order to do that, it's been snapping up small teams and products that have strategic value of some sort, but mostly for the people." 

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