CNET to be sold to Ziff-Davis in a sign of possible media deals to come

Ziff Davis paid over $100 million for CNET according to a source familiar with the deal. Red Ventures declined comment on the deal. Shah said that the acquisition of CNET is part of the company’s strategy to acquire digital media businesses with its approximately $800 million cash on hand. He predicted more deals across the industry, as tech giants like Google and Meta snatch an increasing portion of digital ad spending and as advances in artificial intelligence threaten to further disrupt the digital-media landscape.

“There’s enough uncertainty, which can convince people to say, ‘I don’t know if I want to stay around to find out what’s going to happen,'” Mr. Shah said. “But I have an optimistic and clear view on content.”

Mr. Shah led the 2010 buyout of Ziff-Davis, a century old magazine publisher whose titles chronicled early tech boom. Shah split J2 Global into two companies after the company was acquired by J2 Global. Ziff Davis kept Mashable and other well-known publishing brands, while eFax was kept by the other company. CBS bought it in 2008. The price was $1.8 billion. Red Ventures, a digital media company, bought it in 2020 for $500 million. Futurism, a website that publishes news, conducted an investigation in early 2023 and found that CNET published articles created with the help of generative artificial intelligent. This led the company to revise some of its publishing policies. CNET’s content creators and writers later unionized citing A.I. Ziff Davis’ stock has fallen over the last year due to headwinds in publishing that have affected digital ad businesses. Mr. Shah, however, said that he believes additional deals such as the one for CNET will increase its profits. Shah said that he acquired CNET in part because it was a well-known brand and Ziff Davis would have more influence with advertisers who are looking to reach tech consumers. CNET publishes a variety of product reviews and recommendations, and the publisher sometimes earns a commission if readers use its guides to purchase an item.

“Technology and telecom products and services — whether for an individual, their home or business — continue to be complicated,” Mr. Shah said. There are many choices that require advice. “I think there is a real editorial need.”

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