Ask.com to buy About.com for $300 million

Posted on Aug 27, 2012 in Business | 0 comments

Ask.com confirmed Monday it had agreed to purchase About.com from The New York Times.

Ask.com is an Internet search that provides links to answer questions typed in by participants. It is owned by the Internet conglomerate IAC.

The purchase was first reported in the Times.

Ask.com Chief Executive Officer Doug Leeds said the firm moved from an algorithmic Web search company in 2010 to a question-and-answer format.

Since then, “we’ve learned a thing or two from our users,” he said in a statement.

“First, an increasing number of them are in ‘browse mode’ when they come to Ask.”

“In fact, the most satisfied Ask users say they want more than just ‘one right answer,’” he said.

The gain for Ask.com, he said was 100 million global users “asking millions of questions in hopes of finding great answers.”

About.com is also “home to more than 900 topic sites, all created by guides who are true independent subject matter experts.”

The overlap could lead to job losses but “the immediate synergies are obvious,” Leeds said.