Fair enough but why don't they just straight shut it down?

I don't understand the need for such PR dances. Nobody believes the carefully crafted copy-paste statement of the CEO anyway.

There could be a myriad of reasons for slowly shutting down a site. There might be client or advertiser contracts, leasing issues, employment issues and so forth. Of course, customer outrage and mitigation. There might be some value to be extracted from the operation. There may be execs and employees verizon wants to shift over to other divisions and properties over a prolonged stretch of time. They could even be looking for potential buyers to sell the property.

I don't know that is what verizon is doing. It's just an educated guess on my part. As for the specifics, I'm sure the execs looked at all the data and they are doing what they feel is in the best interest of the shareholders.

Thank you for the good perspective. Sorry if I seemed like I was raging.

My guess is somewhat aligned with yours albeit a bit more cynical -- I think they will try to exctract a stable advertisement revenue channel out of Tumblr but I don't think it will last.

And yeah, you are likely more right -- they mitigate the PR damage and try to prevent staff leaving in droves, plus maximizing shareholder value.