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Microsoft acquires Greenfield Online for $486 million

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Microsoft is buying Greenfield Online, an Internet surveying company, for $486 million.

The deal is expected to strenghten Microsoft’s presence in European search. It is also Microsoft’s largest acquisition since abandoning its bid for Yahoo.

“We are investing heavily in EMEA because we see this as an interesting market for us and an opportunity to provide better services to consumers,” John Mangelaars, Microsoft’s vice-president for consumer and online services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said.

Originally posted on August 30, 2008 @ 4:20 pm

Hollywood Media Corp. divests Hollywood.com for $10 million

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Hollywood Media Corp. has sold its Hollywood.com and Hollywood.com Television businesses to R&S Investments, LLC, an entity owned by Mitchell Rubenstein and Laurie S. Silvers for $10 million. The purchase price includes $1 million paid out to Hollywood Media and earn-out payments of $9 million.

Hollywood Media plans to focus on its profitable online Broadway Ticketing business (including Broadway.com), which currently has an approximate 10 percent share of the Broadway ticket market. Hollywood Media also owns the UK-based CinemasOnline and a minority interest in MovieTickets.com.

Originally posted on August 27, 2008 @ 8:40 am

Lifetime Networks acquires ParentsClick Network

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Lifetime Networks has acquired ParentsClick Network, a San Francisco-based company that offers tools for parents to create their own social networks and blogs.

ParentClick Network sites include MothersClick.com, FathersClick.com, and MomBlogNetwork.com.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed though reports were pointing at $10 million.

Originally posted on August 27, 2008 @ 9:50 pm

National Lampoon acquires AllModelZone.com

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National Lampoon, Inc. has acquired AllModelZone.com from Alle Von Technologies, LLC for an undisclosed sum.

AllModelZone.com, launched in 2002, is a social network for people involved in the modeling industry and allows users to communicate and find work via profiles, forums and photo galleries, among other features. AllModelZone user accounts are free, but a paid, premium version is offered to unlock more advanced features.

“AllModelZone is among the top modeling sites online. In addition to improving upon the monetization of the site’s traffic via our ad sales infrastructure, we see tremendous upside in expanding the user base, both free and paid, and in using the site to cast roles in our feature films and other projects,” said National Lampoon Chief Executive Officer Daniel Laikin. “To that end, we are excited to kick off this new era for the site, using it to cast a role for our upcoming film, ‘National Lampoon’s Legend of Awesomest Maximus.’ Details will be available on the site shortly.”

Originally posted on August 19, 2008 @ 9:21 pm

AOL Purchases SocialThing!

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It’s official: After only five months in private beta, lifestreaming service SocialThing! has been acquired by AOL.

Look out FriendFeed.

You can expect SocialThing! to be integrated with Bebo, AIM, and other community properties.

Despite recent blog cuts due to “budget,” it seems AOL’s pockets are deep enough to buy new products, just not pay the content folks to keep it fresh.

The price tag has not yet been revealed.

What makes SocialThing! special is its “smart algorithm” that can figure out who you’re friends with, making the need to define a friend list unnecessary.

Originally posted on August 15, 2008 @ 9:52 am