Barry Diller's IAC Bids $300M for About.com (Report)
Barry Diller's IAC/Interactivecorp has reportedly bit at least $300 million to buy About.com from the New York Times Company.
The offer trumps the $270 million bid from Answers.com, another information site, that the Times Co. initially accepted, Reuters reported.
A spokeswoman at IAC declined to comment to TheWrap.
"We have no comment on speculation," she said.
But it is well-known that Diller commonly buys second-tier digital properties with the aim of monetizing them in more efficient ways than their previous owners.
Insiders at the Times told TheWrap earlier this month that the company planned to sell the content mill site, which publishes cheap stories, often how-to's and explainers for search-engine-optimized questions.
Also read: N.Y. Times Close to Selling About.com
The Times bought About for $410 million in 2005 as it was diversifying its digital portfolio. But last year, About CEO Cella Irvine left the company after a string of lousy quarters, and the company's financial record has not improved.
Last month, the Times took a $195 million write-down on the unit after Google altered its algorithm to filter out content farms such as About from top search results in an effort to elevate higher-quality content.
Also read: New York Times Co. Names Mark Thompson CEO
The Times brought in departing BBC general director Mark Thompson last week as CEO in an effort to stabilize the cash-bleeding company and make a stronger digital push with its products.
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