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New Media News Every Morning

The Knot Inc. acquires popular Facebook wedding app

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The Knot Inc. announced the acquisition of WedSnap, developer of Weddingbook, the wedding application on Facebook Platform. Weddingbook will join The Knot Wedding Network’s suite of leading wedding websites– TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com.

“For 12 years, the success of The Knot has been fueled by the robust growth of our community,” said David Liu, CEO of The Knot Inc. “With this acquisition, The Knot community broadens by branching into the fastest-growing social network of brides on Facebook, while Weddingbook members will have access to our extensive repertoire of tools, content, and vendor directories.”

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Originally posted on January 26, 2009 @ 11:34 am

Clearspring acquires AddThis making it largest sharing service on the web

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Widget network Clearspring Technologies announced the acquisition of AddThis, the bookmarking and content sharing service on the Internet. Together, Clearspring and AddThis will serve over 20 billion views per month and reach more than 200 million unique visitors, creating the most widely used set of content sharing services on the Web.

“The Internet is becoming the backbone for digital communications – an essential part of our everyday lives,” said Ted Leonsis, chairman of the board at Clearspring. “With the acquisition of AddThis, Clearspring is now at the forefront of that evolution, connecting digital content publishers and consumers via a single set of universally recognizable tools that enable people to easily communicate with content.”

Clearspring and AddThis enable people to easily share content with trusted friends and social groups across popular sites like Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle, Twitter and Digg. Compelling content often shared includes Web pages, videos, movie trailers, news, sports updates, trivia quizzes, games, music, and more, and can be shared across more than 80 social networking, blogging and bookmarking services.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Originally posted on September 30, 2008 @ 11:33 am

Bestofmedia Group acquires Computing.Net, becomes part of Tom’s Guide

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Within two months following the $35 million growth funding investment from Index Ventures, Bestofmedia Group has acquired Computing.Net, a source of high tech information and technical support for IT professionals, developers, tech enthusiasts and consumers.

Computing.Net was named by PC World as the best site for free PC and Windows support. It was founded in 1996 and has become a leading resource for technology professionals. The site has how-to tutorials for all levels, from beginner to advanced technical skills. Computing.Net features a comprehensive database of technical support questions and answers based on one of the Internet’s largest expert community for technology. It covers over 30 topics including all major computer operating systems, hardware, security, networking and programming.

Computing.Net is now part of Tom’s Guide, a Bestofmedia Group brand. With 13 million monthly unique visitors, Tom’s Guide is the definitive online resource for unbiased product reviews, price comparisons, news and information on consumer electronics and high technology products for the home and business.

Originally posted on September 15, 2008 @ 8:00 am

Social Gaming Network acquires (fluff)Friends

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Social Gaming Network (SGN) has completed its acquisition of (fluff)Friends, a highly engaging Facebook application that lets users adopt virtual pets, interact with their friends’ pets and compete to earn virtual currency. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

(fluff)Friends is a vibrant example of social gaming where users can choose from dozens of “fluff” pets to personalize and enrich their Facebook profile experience, and to play games with other (fluff)Friends on Facebook. The (fluff)Friends application leverages existing social network relationships between friends and colleagues by allowing users to pet and interact with other members’ (fluff)Friends.

(fluff)Friends features a sophisticated currency exchange system that gives “fluff” owners the ability to purchase gift items such as food and customizable habitats with virtual “munny and gold.” The user involvement and community loyalty levels are similar to those of virtual worlds and MMO games. The game is continually updated and expanded by developers who receive feedback and suggestions from players on the (fluff)Forum, which in turn is a driving reason for the success and popularity of the game. Since January 2008, there has been a 192% increase in revenue per spender, and a 143% increase in spend per transaction.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Originally posted on September 16, 2008 @ 10:24 am

GigaOm acquires TheAppleBlog

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GigaOm has acquired TheAppleBlog making it the seventh property of its growing network of blogs.

Founder Josh Pigford will continue to head TheAppleBlog and will join the company remotely from Denver.

“I am a big believer in Apple and its ecosystem. The company has introduced a whole slew of products — including the iPhone, iPod and Apple TV — that are spawning an economy of their own, with hundreds of add-ons (and who knows, maybe even new products) coming to market,” Om Malik said in explaining the acquisition.

Details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Originally posted on September 15, 2008 @ 4:45 pm