Forbes Media announced Wednesday that it has officially acquired Clipmarks.com, a social news site that operates by enabling members to "clip" and share parts of Web sites rather than simply bookmarking them. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Clipmarks CEO Eric Goldstein will stay in his post.
The acquisition will serve primarily to enhance Forbes' online news content, apparently. "Forbes.com editors use Clipmarks technology across the Forbes.com site, clipping and posting content from other Web sites that they think site users might be interested in reading," a release from the site explained.
The Clipmarks-Forbes rumor first surfaced way back in August but dissipated quickly when Clipmarks execs hastily denied that the deal was far from certain. It was never stated explicitly, but the undercurrents of Clipmarks' representatives responses suggested that the premature leak of the acquisition talks may actually have delayed or even halted the deal.
VentureBeat reported this evening that "an inside source" had informed them that Forbes Magazine--home publication of the now-outed Fake Steve Jobs--has acquired Clipmarks, a New York-based start-up that allows users to share snippets and bits of Web pages rather than simply a hyperlink or an entire article. This is done through a downloadable browser plug-in that enables "highlighting" up to a certain amount of text on a site.
A look at Clipmarks' downloadable 'highlighting' features.
(Credit: Clipmarks)No financial details were provided, but VentureBeat's Eric Eldon wrote that "Forbes finds the service useful for helping their reporters collect and share information about articles they are reading--and you may soon be seeing Clipmarks used in their stories and blogposts. They'll clip something, and then blog something quickly around it."
Clipmarks representatives were quick to respond to the rumors, and they were strikingly candid. Founder Eric Goldstein addressed the matter (how else?) by "clipping" it and then commenting on the shared text to clarify: "This article is a bit premature," Goldstein wrote. "We have not been acquired by Forbes. However, for the past few months we have been meeting with people at all levels of Forbes and the excitement and support they have shown for what we're creating has been very meaningful to us."
But don't count an acquisition out just yet, Goldstein hinted: "In the coming weeks i hope/expect to have a more definitive announcement about our relationship." Meanwhile, Clipmarks evangelist Eric Skiff had this to say in his Twitter feed: "Wow! I go away on vacation for a few days, and our big news leaks!...Clipmarks + Forbes = <3."
Keep an eye on this one.
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