Digg Expresses Interest in Acquiring Mozilla’s Pocket Following Announcement of Shutdown

Perhaps the most exciting announcement comes via tech entrepreneur and investor Kevin Rose. Digg, the Web 2.0-era link aggregator he co-founded, is reportedly in hot pursuit of Pocket, Mozilla’s read-it-later app. In a separate announcement, Mozilla revealed that it will be closing down Pocket, effective July 8. They mentioned the need to keep their eyes on the changing habits of web users and look deeper into new spaces of innovation.

Here’s what Pocket founder Shaman Rose had to say about the acquisition on a post on X. As we said back then, “We love Pocket at Digg! We’re excited to take it over and support your users for years to come.” His statement underscores a commitment to maintaining the service for existing users while potentially revitalizing the application’s functionality and scope.

Sarah is a veteran reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. Over the past few months, she’s been tracking major developments in the tech industry, including this likely acquisition. Prior to coming to TechCrunch, she spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. She comes to OST with a robust IT background across specialty sectors including banking, retail and software. Her perspective on these kinds of transitions helps focus on what they mean for users and the industry overall.

The recent upheaval caused by Reddit’s Apollo app, and its subsequent shuttering, has highlighted the plight of 3rd-party developers like Apollo to similar platforms. As you may know, Reddit raised its API pricing dramatically last week, making it impossible for Apollo to continue operating. These types of actions have prompted discussions with tech applications about what sustainability looks like, especially for those that are dependent on outside platforms for features.

The interest from Digg to acquire Pocket demonstrates a strategic move to broaden its service offerings while safeguarding an established user base. With Rose and Alexis Ohanian, another co-founder of Reddit, at the helm, Digg appears poised to leverage its experience in content aggregation to enhance Pocket’s capabilities.

As Mozilla gets ready to fade Pocket into the sunset, the tech community waits and hopes that a big success story from an acquisition will emerge. That decision may have a tremendous impact on the way users interact with read-it-later services moving forward.