Yahoo has purchased Blink, an app that lets users send self-destructing messages, for an undisclosed sum. Blink functions similar to Snapchat, but allows users to choose when their message disappears from the recipient's inbox. According to Blink, Yahoo will shut down both the Android and iOS Blink apps in the coming weeks. Yahoo has not said what it intends to do with Blink. Yahoo has been scooping up mobile-related startups at a furious pace over the last 18 months in order to shore up its smartphone and tablet offerings. Apps that allow people to send messages between devices outside of normal SMS channels, often referred to as over-the-top, have grown in popularity in recent years. Facebook recently purchased one such service, called WhatsApp, for $19 million.


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