AOL-Weblogs Inc: React Pours In

Updated at 3 p.m. eastern:

Nick Denton, who had a pretty big day of his own yesterday with record traffic and the VNU deal: “The acquisition of WIN by AOL is exhilirating news, in many respects, most of which I shouldn’t list here. For what it’s worth, Gawker isn’t for sale. The whole point about blogs is that they’re not part of big media. Consolidation defeats the purpose. It’s way too early. Like a decade too early.”

Susan Mernit: “… What’s noteworthy here is that–like the acquisition of About.com by the New York Times, this is simultaneously a deal of content acquisition, platform tools and new advertising inventory that the new owners can better monetize.”

Dana Blakenhorn:”The dot-boom ended when AOL bought Time-Warner. … Will the blogging boom also end with an AOL purchase? I ask because friends of mine in the business are thrilled over AOL’s purchase of Jason Calacanis’ Weblogsinc for a price reported to be $25 million. … Calacanis’ company is probably the biggest in this space, but $25 million is less than the cost of a single good magazine title. … if this business is so good why is it worth so little?”

Russell Buckley (via Dana): “… But the $25 million question is; is it worth the money? Frankly, I don’t think so and my bet is Jason has cannily sold out at the top of the market. It’s yet another sign of the bubble that’s going on. … So a hearty, ‘well done’ from me to Jason and Co. I think AOL have picked a bit of a dud, but then $25 million is small change to them and nothing in the context of their wider business problems and indeed, their very future. In this context, they can take a little risk like this and if I’m wrong, enjoy any upside that comes with it.”

Jeff Jarvis has more from Denton. Worth the click. Also says AOL exec Tina Sharkey had the “usual ‘very excited’ soundbites.” Jeff has the usual dismissal of a big media move: “So is the best way for a media company to get into blogs to buy them? I don’t think so.”

I’ll start a new react post for the next batch.

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