Yahoo! buys out summary app Summly

Yahoo! has bought out news summarizing app Summly for an undisclosed figure (although some have pegged it at just under US$30-million).

You might recall that there was quite a lot of hype around the app towards the end of last year. Conceived by Nick D’Aloisio when he was just 15, the app gained attention, with celebrities like Stephen Fry and Ashton Kutcher investing in it before its late 2012 launch.

Using complex algorithm, Summly summarises news stories into three paragraphs and allow users to customise categories. If a user likes a specific article, they can swipe the ‘summery’ to get linked to the full article.

In an official statement, Yahoo! says it’s buying the app because works so well with people’s desire to better identify what’s important to them on their mobile devices:

Mobile devices are shifting our daily routines, and users have changed not only what, but how much information they consume. Yet most articles and web pages were formatted for browsing with mouse clicks. The ability to skim them on a phone or a tablet can be a real challenge — we want easier ways to identify what’s important to us.

It also reckons the app holds massive potential for publishers, because it “provides a new approach to drive interest in stories and reach a generation of mobile users that want information on the go”.

D’Aloisio and the Summly team are reportedly set to join Yahoo! in the coming weeks. The app (which was chosen by Apple as its “app of the week” on launch) will close, although Yahoo! claims it will integrate the technology into its mobile offerings as soon as possible:

Mobile devices are at the center of how we engage with the people, experiences and interests we love. Across Yahoo!, we’re focused on creating beautiful experiences that people are excited to use every day — products that inspire and delight. We can’t wait to work with Nick and the Summly team to do just that.