In an effort to further increase its presence in the blogging arena, America Online has agreed to purchase Weblogs, Inc. for a reported $25 million. Weblogs, Inc. is a collection of approximately 80 niche interest sites, ranging from consumer electronics, technology, and video gaming to entertainment and events, including the popular site Engadget. The sites feature approximately 100 regular bloggers.
In an appropriate yet ironic twist to be filed under either the "who watches the watchers?" or "navel-gazing" departments, the agreement was first reported on the media blog PaidContent.org
AOL’s acquisition is seen mainly as a way for the company to bolster the range of blog content it offers to subscribers—and advertising revenue it receives—without having to create readership, production, or business models from the ground up, Weblogs, Inc. is seen as appealing to advertisers, who can easily target potential customers by selecting blogs to carry their ads, and is already up-and-running as an operation with reliable content and readership. It’s also one of the few successful attempts to weave together collections of blogs in a way which actually manages to pay its bloggers. According to AOL, Weblogs, Inc. will become a wholly-owned AOL subsidiary and operate with full independence, retaining editorial control of its content.
