eBay Stumbles Out of StumbleUpon

From the beginning, eBay’s purchase of StumbleUpon was a strategic head scratcher.

For $75-million, eBay picked up a popular online service that provide people with another way to discover interesting Web sites. But it was a move that smacked of either vanity or a blind desire to stop someone else from buying it. Either way, it was a terrible use of capital.

Now eBay has decided to free StumbleUpon (hat tip to GigaOm) by spinning it off. The company is once again controlled by Canadians Garret Camp and Geoff Smith as well as an investment group headed by August Capital. (Note: I wonder if the Alberta government can lure StumbleUpon back to Calgary?)

The key question now facing StumbleUpon is what now? Without out a doubt, it’s a useful and interesting service but can it become anything more than a discovery engine? It will be interesting to see what Camp and Smith will do now that they’ve escaped AuctionLand.

What is particularly intriguing about StumbleUpon is its popularity. According to ReadWriteWeb, StumbleUpon had more than seven million registered users earlier this year. I’m one of those users, although I have to admit not using StumbleUpon in a long time. Not sure why it’s collected dust but it’s one of those services that, in theory, seems worth exploring if there was more time in the day.

More: BoomTown has the StumbleUpon press release.