Yahoo buys Vizify, a startup that turns social data into pretty pictures

Put another notch on Yahoo’s bedpost, y’all!

Today’s M&A deal involves Vizify, the company behind Twitter’s highlight-reel feature from last summer. Vizify specializes in automating graphic design based on social and personal data.

Here’s what that means:

Yahoo’s buying spree has focused a lot on design-oriented startups. Add to that the company’s treasure trove of Flickr images and you have an acquisition that makes total sense.

Here’s part of the startup’s statement on the deal:

We started Vizify in 2011 with the vision of transforming the information that we all consume and create every day into something more beautiful and personal. We were awed and grateful to see this vision taken up by so many of you as you built and shared our graphical bios, infographic cards, and videos.

Since last summer, we’ve been engaged in a conversation with some of the incredible folks at Yahoo about the ways this more visual approach to data can inspire and entertain. As our conversations progressed, we realized we’d found a partner who shared our passion for user experience, design, and visualizing information. Ultimately, we just couldn’t say no to the opportunity to bring our vision to the hundreds of millions of people who use Yahoo every day.

As part of the transition to Yahoo, we will be sunsetting the Vizify service (read below for more detail). As for what’s next, we can’t talk specifics just yet, but we’re excited to bring a more visual approach to data at Yahoo. We have a lot more up our sleeves and can’t wait to get started.