Digital media network GigaOm buys PaidContent

by David Silverberg

Two digital media news sites are merging. GigaOm, known for tracking digital media stories from the U.S. primarily, has acquired PaidContent.org from London-based Guardian News & Media. PaidContent is owned by ContentNext, which was bought by the Guardian in 2008 for a reported £4 million, which would today convert to roughly $6.5 million.

PaidContent publishes news on digital media companies, and includes commentary mixed with hard news.

Om Malik, founder of GigaOm, wrote on why his company made the acquisition for an undisclosed amount: “The ethos of paidContent and our company are in sync. GigaOM’s core belief is that as connectivity becomes ubiquitous, it changes everything from society to business to we the people. paidContent from the very beginning has been built on the idea that connectedness is and will change media. It makes perfect sense for us to team up.”

Malik went on to say he has been an admirer of paidContent’s editorial team from the very beginning of its journey. He also said, “paidContent is the best chronicler of the media industry, and by blending their coverage with ours, we hope to watch this fast-changing industry ever more closely.”

AdAge notes the traffic is respectable for both properties. GigaOM  attracts 4.5 million monthly unique users, while PaidContent and the other ContentNext sites registered a little more than 700,000 uniques in January.