Recently formed blog network b5 Media announced today that it has merged with About Weblogs. The masterminds behind b5, Duncan Riley, Darren Rowse, and Jeremy Wright will bring About Weblogs, its owner Shai Coggins, and her 25 bloggers into the fold to create a network of almost 50 sites.
B5 are babes-in-the-woods when it comes to networks, having launched theirs scarcely six weeks ago. Response to b5, however, has been tremendous and the company had their first 100,000 visitors within the first week of its launch.
About Weblogs brings a number of new things to b5’s table, including blogs with an international flair, a distinctive variety of topics and, interestingly, an all female crew. Rowse says “[we] are really pleased to be a network with such a diverse mix of bloggers in terms of location, gender, blogging experience and age.”
Shai Coggins says she is thrilled to become a partner of b5 because “Darren, Duncan and Jeremy's experience and expertise combined is a lot more than my own as an individual. Running a network by myself has plenty of challenges and limitations.” The merger sounds like a win-win for everyone.
The jury is still out on exactly what constitutes a network but the general consensus is that it is a variety of blogs pulled together under one umbrella to maximize traffic and advertising opportunities. When leading blog network Weblogs, Inc., was sold to AOL last month in a multi-million dollar deal, suddenly everyone wanted a piece of the action. As a result, new networks seem to be springing up out of nowhere. As networked blog sites become more prevalent, I expect to see several more mergers and acquisitions in the coming months, though they would be unlikely to be on the scale of the WIN/AOL deal.
The merger of b5 and About Weblogs brings together four extraordinarily talented and prolific individuals. Watching their site grow and mature is sure to be quite interesting for readers and the bloggers themselves. I wish them the best of luck.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
The WIN/AOL Deal isn't public yet - Oh! I see what you mean, never mind
:)