Yahoo Buys Blink, Meh Labs' Mobile App, Which Helps Send Messages That Self-Destruct

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) on Tuesday bought Blink, a mobile messaging application that helps users to send content that can self-destruct soon as it's consumed, for an undisclosed amount.

Meh Labs, which designed the app, announced the news on its blog but did not provide further details of the transaction. Blink, which helps users send text messages, audio, sketches, video and photos, was launched last April and released its product Blink 2.0 last September for iOS. And, according to BBC, Blink’s seven-member team will work on Yahoo’s “smart communication” products.

“We're excited to announce that as of May 13, 2014, Blink is joining Yahoo! We built Blink because we believe everyone should be free to show the same honesty and spontaneity in their online conversations as they can in person. We look forward to the possibilities that will come from bringing the Blink vision to Yahoo,” the company announced on its site.

California-based Meh Labs was started by ex-Google employees Kevin Stephens and Michelle Norgan and is best known for its location-sharing application Kismet.

Yahoo, which has 430 million monthly users of its mobile products according to Reuters, has stepped up acquisitions to boost the company's offerings on mobile devices and has overseen the purchase of nearly two dozen companies in 2013, including Tumblr and Qwiki, by spending about $1.2 billion.

Snapchat, a rival app, received a $3 billion buyout offer last year from Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) while another similar product, Whatsapp, was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in the social networking giant's largest acquisition till date.