Automattic today acquired a little service by the name of Lean Domain Search. Going forward, the site will be free to use, and its founder Matt Mazur will be joining the company as a developer.
Automattic is best known for building the free blogging service WordPress.com as well as its contributions to the open-source blogging software WordPress, available at WordPress.org. The two are often confused and it’s important to make the distinction between them as Mazur will be helping on the WordPress.com front.
In fact, he has already revealed that he will be “working full time on making it even easier for WordPress.com users to find and register great domain names for their websites and blogs.” The best part is that Lean Domain Search will continue to exist: “Not only will it continue to run, but it’s also now completely free to use.”
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Furthermore, since it’s not being shuttered, Lean Domain Search will presumably continue to be improved. As part of the acquisition, it has already gained the ability to register domain names directly through WordPress.com.
Lean Domain Search first debuted on Hacker News over a year ago. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but Mazur seems pretty happy with getting an employer:
I’d like to extend a special thanks to my wife, my family and friends, the Orlando tech community, and Lean Domain Search’s users for their tireless support and feedback. Lean Domain Search wouldn’t be what it is without all of you.
As for Automattic, chances are the decision was an easy one as hiring a one-man team that is already doing what you want can be much more beneficial than starting from scratch. The fact Lean Domain Search has already gained some WordPress.com integration is a great start.
See also – The founder of Poster gets acqu-hired by Automattic as the minimal blogging iOS app is taken down and Automattic reveals WordPress.com Business, new pricing tier with unlimited themes and storage
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