AOL snaps up blog publisher Weblogs

America Online plans to acquire Weblogs Inc editor blog with the aim of strengthening its presence in the new community of bloggers. Weblogs, a privately held Santa Monica, California-based company operates 85 blogs with subjects ranging from parents of technology for the cinema. AOL said Thursday that it will integrate the blogs throughout its network, such as within its television, travel and personal finance channels. "... This combination allows our audiences to be able to make a" deep dive "in a wide range of subjects imperative that keep them interested and entertained on our network of properties, day after day," Jim Bankoff, vice AOL-executive president of programming and products, said in a statement. The amount of the transaction, which is scheduled for next week, were not disclosed. AOL is paying about $ 25 million for the company, according to Reuters. (Weblogs Inc is a separate operation of the service line Weblogs.com ping.) AOL has been making efforts to expand its online offerings to the community of bloggers. Last May, the Internet giant announced that it would offer free blog pages to anyone who signed up for its instant messaging service. Now on News.com Judge: Wikileaks gets its domain name Why did Microsoft turning back for wimpy? Standard Document: Yes? No? Maybe? A day with the "MythBusters" Extra: RoboScooter: Not your father Vespa The acquisition comes as competitors such as Google and Yahoo have made efforts to improve their own capabilities blog. Google launched last month a blog search function, and Yahoo recently came out with an ad network for blogs. Nick Denton, the publisher of blogging site Gawker.com, was skeptical of the transaction. "The whole point about blogs is that they are not part of big media. Consolidation defeats the purpose. It is far too early," he said, adding that Gawker is not for sale . Weblogs, which was launched in 2004, has more than 100 independent bloggers who are paid to serve as experts on such blogs as TVSquad, SlashFood luxury and lifestyle site Luxist.
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