In case you missed this during the holidays, Consumers Union, parent of Consumer Reports magazine, has acquired the Consumerist blog from Gawker Media. While the deal size is small - estimated to be $1-2 million by Silicon Alley Insider, it's a terrific acquisition for Consumers Union.
Consumer Reports is an amazing brand. It's one of the few (non-sex-related) consumer brands that has proven it can sell paid subscriptions via the web, with over 2 million online readers. Their challenge has been demographics. Their print readers are in their sixties and seventies, while their online readers are in their forties and fifties. If they simply stay the course, they'll need to rely upon cryogenics to have a sustainable model over time.
I've previously suggested that Consumer Reports look to bring in more user-generated content to liven up their site. While their efforts to-date have been slow and cautious, the acquisition of Consumerist suggests they are ready to take a bigger plunge. Consumerist attracts a different demographic, with 70% of their readers being males age 18-34. They deliver high quality content but retain the edginess and snark of the Gawker brand.
The biggest challenge in any acquisition is the integration of disparate cultures. I can't imagine two more different cultures than the sensationalist page-view-driven world of Nick Denton compared to the nonprofit, avoid conflicts of interest at all costs world of Consumer's Union. Yet in many ways, Consumerist never fit the true Gawker mode. While the writing style is similar to other Gawker titles, it's focus made it difficult to attract advertisers. Of course, as a Consumers Union site, that won't be an issue. And while the Consumerist readers seem unlikely to buy print subscriptions to Consumer Reports, they're certainly targets to sell car buyer reports and other CU titles and could serve as the centerpiece of a user-generated content component for CU.
Publishers seeking to build online traffic should continue to look at blogs as possible acquisitions. In this market, it won't cost very much to buy traffic which can later be monetized in various ways.
