SlideShare was acquired by LinkedIn in 2012 for $119 million. At the time, SlideShare was the world’s largest professional content sharing community, with 60 million monthly visitors. The acquisition allowed LinkedIn to add a popular content platform to its professional network. SlideShare gave users the ability to upload and share presentations, infographics, PDFs, videos and webinars. For many years SlideShare operated as a standalone platform under LinkedIn, but in 2022 LinkedIn began integrating SlideShare more deeply into its platform.
What changes were made to SlideShare?
In September 2022, LinkedIn announced that it would be evolving SlideShare to be fully integrated into the LinkedIn platform. This meant the SlideShare website would be going away, and content would only be viewable directly on LinkedIn. Some key changes include:
- SlideShare content is now only viewable and accessible from within LinkedIn
- SlideShare content appears in LinkedIn feeds and search results
- Profiles are unified, SlideShare contributors now have Creator Mode profiles on LinkedIn
- Analytics have been integrated into LinkedIn’s Content Analytics
The goal of the integration was to provide a more unified and seamless content experience. Instead of having to go back and forth between LinkedIn and SlideShare, now all professional content is accessible directly within LinkedIn.
Why did LinkedIn decide to integrate SlideShare?
There are a few key reasons why LinkedIn likely decided it was time to fully integrate SlideShare into its platform:
- Drive more content engagement – By having SlideShare content show directly in LinkedIn feeds, the goal is increased visibility and engagement with content.
- Unified analytics – Bringing analytics together gives creators a centralized hub to understand content performance.
- Simplified experience – No longer needing to toggle between sites creates a more streamlined user experience.
- Expanded content types – Native LinkedIn content supports more formats like video that go beyond presentations.
Essentially, the integration aims to take advantage of LinkedIn’s larger network effects and product capabilities to increase overall content consumption and simplify workflows for creators and consumers alike.
What is the impact on SlideShare users?
The integration has changed the experience for both content consumers and creators who previously used SlideShare. Here’s an overview of some of the key impacts:
For content consumers
- SlideShare content now appears directly in LinkedIn feeds and search results.
- Standalone SlideShare website and mobile apps no longer exist.
- Viewing content requires logging in and having a LinkedIn account.
- Discoverability may increase due to native visibility in LinkedIn.
For content creators
- Upload/publish content directly on LinkedIn now.
- Use LinkedIn’s Creator Mode for analytics, managing content, and connecting with consumers.
- Existing SlideShare profiles are migrated over – no content lost.
- Can no longer customize SlideShare profile or branding separate from LinkedIn profile.
Overall, consumers lose SlideShare as a separate destination but gain wider visibility on LinkedIn. And creators must now operate primarily within LinkedIn for content publishing and analytics.
What types of content will still be supported?
LinkedIn’s announcement indicated that all existing SlideShare content types will continue to be supported. This includes:
- Presentations
- Infographics
- Videos
- PDF documents
- Webinars
In addition, native LinkedIn content like articles, posts, and videos will also be options for creators to publish content moving forward.
LinkedIn has said the 700+ content domains from SlideShare will all be migrated over, so no existing content will be lost in the transition. The only change is that it will now be hosted and viewable directly within LinkedIn.
What features go away with the SlideShare integration?
While most SlideShare content will still be supported, some unique features and capabilities that existed on the standalone SlideShare platform will be going away. This includes:
- Customizable SlideShare profile pages
- SlideShare-specific analytics
- Ability to follow/connect with others on SlideShare
- SlideShare mobile apps
- SlideShare user groups
- SlideShare-specific content recommendation engine
- SlideShare topic/category browse pages
These experiences will be replaced by analogous functionality within LinkedIn – albeit tailored to the LinkedIn platform experience. While some nuanced features disappear, the core ability to share content remains intact.
What’s the future roadmap for the integration?
LinkedIn has shared that integrating SlideShare is just the first step in its vision for premium professional content. The roadmap includes continuing to enhance and expand capabilities for creators, consumers, and content analytics.
Some potential features on the horizon include:
- Additional content formats like podcasts, stories, live video
- Tools for content discovery within LinkedIn
- Paid partnership opportunities between brands and creators
- New content recommendation models personalized to member interests
- Creator badges, verified status, and other forms of recognition
The integration removes some barriers to unlocking the value of SlideShare’s content graph within the LinkedIn community. With foundational changes in place, LinkedIn is now well-positioned to leverage these assets and expand the platform’s capabilities for professional content and conversations.
Was the SlideShare acquisition worth it for LinkedIn?
At the time of acquisition in 2012, SlideShare was the top professional content sharing platform with strong traction – 60 million monthly visitors and averaging 3 million uploads per month. The $119 million price tag gave LinkedIn a proven content platform and bolstered its content capabilities and user engagement.
Some key ways the SlideShare acquisition brought value to LinkedIn:
- Source of professional user generated content
- Expanded content format support beyond blogging/articles
- SlideShare users and visitors provide increased traffic
- Subscription revenue stream from SlideShare premium accounts
- Valuable data on content performance and user preferences
Overall the acquisition seemed well worth the investment, as SlideShare was the clear market leader at the time and gave LinkedIn expanded capabilities and strategic assets. Integrating SlideShare deeper into LinkedIn looks be the natural progression of unlocking even greater value from the acquisition.
Pros of the SlideShare acquisition
Pros | Description |
---|---|
Professional user generated content | Millions of presentations, infographics, PDFs created by LinkedIn target users |
Additional content formats | Beyond blogging, support for presentations, video, webinars |
Increased traffic and users | SlideShare’s millions of monthly visitors become potential LinkedIn users |
New revenue stream | Premium SlideShare accounts provided subscription revenue |
Valuable user data | Insights into content performance and user preferences |
Cons of the SlideShare acquisition
Cons | Description |
---|---|
High price tag | $119 million was a substantial investment |
Integrating different platforms | Complexity in combining two mature platforms with separate users and content |
Some overlap in functionality | Both sites enabled professional content sharing |
Uncertainty about future direction | Maintain as standalone vs integrate deeper? |
Risk of alienating users | Change can frustrate existing SlideShare users |
Considering the strategic value SlideShare brought to LinkedIn and the fact that full integration has taken 10 years, the money and time invested seems justified. LinkedIn likely could not have built such an asset organically in that timeframe. While integration poses some challenges, the potential upside is substantial.
Conclusion
The SlideShare acquisition has proven to be a valuable strategic move for LinkedIn. It provided a major boost to LinkedIn’s professional content capabilities and added a highly popular content platform to its arsenal. While operating as an independent platform initially, tighter integration over time has helped unlock greater synergies. The future roadmap promises to further capitalize on SlideShare’s content and data assets within LinkedIn’s ecosystem. With video content and digital media only growing in importance for social platforms, SlideShare gives LinkedIn robust professional user generated content. Overall the $119 million was money well spent, and integrating SlideShare into the core LinkedIn experience is the logical next step in the evolution.