In a move to beef up its content, AOL is snapping up The Huffington Post, an influential news, analysis and lifestyle blog founded in 2005, for $315 million. The Huffington Post counts nearly 25 million unique monthly visitors.
With the acquisition, AOL said it’s creating a global, national, local and hyperlocal content group that leverages online, mobile, tablet and video platforms. Indeed, AOL is boldly declaring that the combination of its infrastructure and scale with The Huffington Post’s content and community-building efforts marks a “seminal moment in the evolution of digital journalism and online engagement.”
“It’s a bold move,” said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. “AOL’s objective is to deliver display ads against branded page views. The Huffington Post has obviously been very successful and had a strong editorial identity, though its content is highly uneven.”
Integrating AOL Properties
Uneven or not, AOL estimates the new platform will have a combined base of 117 million unique visitors a month in the United States and 270 million around the world. Once the transaction closes, AOL promised to accelerate its strategy to deliver a scaled and wide array of premium news, analysis and entertainment produced by thousands of writers, editors, reporters and videographers around the globe.
“The acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community and social experiences for consumers,” said Tim Armstrong, chairman and CEO of AOL. “Together, our companies will embrace the digital future and become a digital destination that delivers unmatched experiences for both consumers and advertisers.”
As part of the transaction, Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post’s cofounder and editor-in-chief, will become president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which will integrate all Huffington Post and AOL content, including Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL…