Last time AOL bought a blog network (Weblogs Inc, owner of Engadget) was like 5 years ago. Today, they bought another one — the TechCrunch Network.
Announced today at TC Disrupt (a conference organized by TC itself), the acquisition cost was not revealed but estimates point to between $25 million to $40 million.
This makes AOL the owner of the biggest blog network to date with Engadget and TechCrunch on its helm. Smaller sites under the TC network, MobileCrunch & CrunchGear, might not survive the acquisition if we base it on what happened to similar blogs in the Weblogs Inc. sale years ago.
Founded by Michael Arrington, TechCrunch operates a global network of dedicated properties from Europe to Japan, as well as vertically-oriented websites, including MobileCrunch, CrunchGear, TechCrunchIT, GreenTech, TechCrunchTV and CrunchBase. The TechMeme Leaderboard ranks TechCrunch as the No. 1 source of breaking tech news online, followed by AOL’s Engadget.*
TechCrunch makes about $6.5 to $10 million a year from advertising and events/conferences.
I won’t wonder if the next site they buy would be Mashable!