❯ Transactions

Ziff Davis Acquires NetShelter from inPowered, Creating the New Powerhouse in Tech Media

Internet & Digital Marketing ❯

Ziff Davis, Inc., the leading digital media company in the technology, gaming and men’s lifestyle categories, today announced the acquisition of NetShelter®, the biggest community of technology publishers dedicated to consumer electronics, computing and mobile communications, from inPowered. Ziff Davis is a division of j2 Global, Inc. (NASDAQGS:JCOM).

The combination of Ziff Davis’ technology sites, which include PCMag.com, Geek.com and Toolbox.com, and NetShelter makes it the new #1 property in the technology category, according to comScore, with 29 million monthly U.S. unique visitors in April. Ziff Davis’ games division, IGN Entertainment, is also #1 in the gaming information category in comScore. Overall, Ziff Davis is now #31 in comScore’s Top 100 with 36.5 million monthly unique visitors in the US and 117 million worldwide.

NetShelter will integrate Ziff Davis’ powerful BuyerBase technology, providing advertisers a revolutionary new value proposition: The ability to tap exclusive BuyerBase product- and category-level in-market data to reach buyers on 100-percent transparent, fully guaranteed sites in the NetShelter portfolio.

The NetShelter community includes over 150 respected consumer and business tech sites, including AndroidCentral.com, MacRumors.com, Neoseeker.com, SlashGear.com and TechSpot.com, which create over 40,000 articles every month, delivering nearly 16 billion ad impressions per year.

David Roman, Chief Marketing Officer and SVP of Lenovo, said: “It’s good to see Ziff Davis reclaim a leadership position in the global technology media marketplace. NetShelter’s thoughtful tech and mobile editorial coverage are a natural fit with PCMag’s globally respected labs. The combination of Ziff Davis’ data and commerce capabilities with NetShelter’s reach will create a great platform for defining, understanding and enhancing product and brand metrics.”

Vivek Shah, CEO of Ziff Davis, said: “The acquisition of NetShelter fully returns Ziff Davis to the dominant market position in the technology vertical. We will combine our best-in-class ad targeting capabilities and trading desk expertise with what our marketers need most today: High-quality, high-impact inventory that’s available at scale on trusted sites frequented by tech enthusiasts.”

Hemi Zucker, CEO of j2 Global, said: “This acquisition not only extends Ziff Davis’ leadership position in the tech vertical but makes Ziff Davis overall one of the largest digital media companies in the U.S. that can deliver advertisers targeted, highly desirable audiences of significant scale.”

Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed and the financial impact to j2 Global is not expected to be material.

About Ziff Davis:
Ziff Davis, Inc. is the leading digital media company specializing in the technology, gaming and men’s lifestyle categories, reaching over 117 million unique visitors per month. Ziff Davis sites include IGN.com, PCMag.com, AskMen.com, ComputerShopper.com, ExtremeTech.com, Geek.com, LogicBuy.com and Toolbox.com. Ziff Davis also operates NetShelter, the largest community of technology publishers dedicated to consumer electronics, computing and mobile communications. Ziff Davis B2B is a leading provider of online research to enterprise buyers and high-quality leads to IT vendors.

About j2:
j2 Global, Inc. (NASDAQGS:JCOM) provides Internet services through its two divisions: Business Cloud Services and Digital Media. The Business Cloud Services Division offers Internet fax, virtual phone, hosted email, email marketing, online backup, unified communications and CRM solutions. It markets its services principally under the brand names eFax®, eVoice®, FuseMail®, Campaigner®, KeepItSafe® and Onebox® and operates a messaging network spanning 49 countries on six continents. The Digital Media Division consists of Ziff Davis Inc., which offers technology, gaming and lifestyle content through its digital properties which include PCMag.com, IGN.com, AskMen.com, Toolbox.com and others. Ziff Davis also operates BuyerBase, an advanced digital ad targeting platform and Ziff Davis B2B, a leading provider of research to enterprise buyers and leads to IT vendors. As of December 31, 2012, j2 had achieved 17 consecutive fiscal years of revenue growth. For more information about j2, please visit www.j2global.com.

NetShelter Technology Media
Acquired by
J2 Global / Ziff Davis