paidContent joins GigaOM - watch out Techcrunch
Jinfo Blog

By Penny Crossland

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The Guardian newspaper has made no secret of the fact that it was looking to sell its digital business ContentNext Media – publishers of paidContent – in order to stem its considerable operating losses. Last summer, the paper reported losses of more than £38.3 million and announced at the same time its “digital first strategy”, reported by LiveWire here, which was to help save parent company GMG £25 million by 2016.

Selling your highly regarded digital business does not on the face of it seem to fit with a “digital first strategy”, however needs must in straitened times. So last week’s announcement that paidContent had been acquired by San Francisco-based GigaOM came as no surprise to industry observers.

The amount involved was not disclosed, however reports published in November last year indicated that GMG was looking for between $15 and $20 million. Not a bad return, considering GMG  paid £4 million for the business three years ago.

Apart from paidContent, which enjoys more than 720,000 monthly unique visitors, the ContentNext Media portfolio includes contentSutra, the online media news monitor for India, which no doubt has helped make this a very attractive package for GigaOM. Both companies have also made names for themselves in digital media conferences and events, which adds to the good fit.

GigaOM is now set to become what journalism.co.uk called a “powerhouse of tech journalism”, which will give AOL’s Techcrunch a run for its money.

The Guardian meanwhile is apparently concentrating on building its online presence in the United States via guardiannews.com. Despite  launching its paid-for iPhone app a year ago, the newspaper remains steadfast in its belief in the open-access model, so paywalls are out for the foreseeable future.

So where will the ambitious £25 million by 2016 come from? Rival newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported last year that the Guardian’s owners were considering opening a lifestyle shop in London’s trendy Covent Garden, in order to trade on the paper’s brand amongst the capital’s liberal-minded shoppers.

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