Facebook Buys Instagram in Billion-Dollar Bid

Instagram buyout | BCBusiness
Facebook announced it would scoop up Instagram, the popular photo app for smartphones, in a billion-dollar bid.

Social media superstar Facebook offers a mind-blowing $1 billion sum for Instagram, a smartphone photo app that’s yet to generate any revenue.

For a smartphone app that is less than two years old, Instagram sure hit the jackpot.
 
On Monday, Facebook bid a mind-boggling $1 billion for the photo app that’s taken the world of smartphones by storm. And for a company that has yet to generate any revenue, the buyout seemingly spells a lucrative victory.
 
But Instagram’s 30 million users (myself included) wonder how the little San Francisco-based company will change once the social media giant swallows it. Some users worry Facebook execs will significantly change Instagram’s features by integrating paid ads in its feeds. Or, even worse, some users are concerned Facebook will use its notorious data mining techniques to monetize users’ valuable personal information.
 
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head hauncho Kevin Systrom both insisted on their company blogs that Instagram would remain independent, for the moment, and wouldn’t change significantly. But it’s hard to imagine Facebook wouldn’t find a way to monetize the app, especially since Instagram could give Facebook a much-needed boost in the mobile market.