Answers Buys 100M Dictionary

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Answers Buys $100M Dictionary

By: Jordan McCollum
2007-07-17

Answers.com announced today that they've acquired Lexico Publishing Corp, which includes Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com...

... and Reference.com, for $100M cash.

Answers reported that their reasons for the acquisition include:

* Page Views: Lexico's Web properties currently generate approximately three times the total page views of Answers.com.

* Monetization: Lexico's Web properties currently monetize at approximately one-third the rate of Answers.com, presenting material revenue upside. [With $7M in Lexico revenues in 2006, that's a nice base to be growing from, too.]

* Direct Traffic: Over 85% of Lexico's traffic is direct from end users or people searching specifically for the term "dictionary" in search engines. The resulting shift in traffic mix should significantly reduce Answers.com's current reliance on search engine algorithms.

* Market Leadership: Based on the June 2007 comScore data, the addition of Lexico's Web properties will increase Answers reach to over 22.5 million monthly unique users, which would rank #28 in the top U.S. properties.

Am I reading this right? Because more than 85% of Lexico's traffic is direct or from the keyword "dictionary," this acquisition is going to decrease their reliance on search engines? When searchers are looking for "dictionary"-a term in the domain name-and your new properties are in the top three on the the big four, why not enjoy it?

I'm all for defensible traffic, but I just don't get the reasoning here. Sure, you don't want to mortgage your online future, but how is acquiring a company with a significant proportion of their traffic coming from search going to reduce your reliance on search engines?

(via)

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About the Author:
Jordan McCollum is a staff writer for the popular marketing blog Marketing Pilgrim. She has worked in search engine optimization with clients including 3M, Little Giant Ladders and ADP. After graduating from Brigham Young University, Jordan joined the SEO copywriting team at the Internet marketing firm 10x Marketing. After 10x closed its doors in December 2006, Jordan became a freelance writer and Internet marketing consultant specializing in SEO. She also has extensive experience with web analytics, conversion rate enhancement and e-mail marketing.


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